Julia wiped a tear away.  It was not the pain, almost unendurable though it still was,  that caused this sign of emotion, but shame.  The warm-hearted sympathy that this girl had just expressed served to remind her of all the unkind things she had said about her in the past and about so many other of the village girls.  At this moment there was nothing she wanted more than to have them accept her as a friend.  She had witnessed,  with amazed and growing admiration,  their stoicism as they had descended time and again into the freezing water  and had come so ardently  to admire them  that she desired their friendship and approbation as she had never desired any others'.

"Thanks, Kylie!  I'm fine. Oh! You look so divinely and utterly lovely without your costume - really lovely!  Don't you feel  how great it is to be free of clothes for a while on this Feast of the Lord of Misrule?  And the rest of you - you all look so utterly sweet.  I love all three of you.  I've been watching your ordeal and you've all been pretty brave yourselves!  A promise is a promise, Kylie.   I've never broken one in my life and never will, so help me God!  You three go off and enjoy the fete for a while, and don't be in a hurry to come back.  My arse needs a good cooling down!  It feels like it's on fire!  Oh and another thing - don't any of you three ever dare to call me anything other than Julia from now on!   Got that?  You'll all be in such trouble if you don't!  Seriously - I'd think it the nicest thing that had ever happened to me if you did!"

"OK Julia!  Thanks for helping out, my love!   You're a great girl - you really are!  See you later!"

After Kylie had said this, all three girls kissed a by now helplessly  weeping  but very happy  Julia and scampered off,  bare-arse naked and happier than they had any of them ever been before,  to enjoy the fun.

She climbed the ladder and prayed that the first shot would be so aimed as to plunge her into that delicious and longed for cold.  Thankfully, her prayer was answered and,  after her fall from the platform,  she gloried in the icy kiss of the super-cooled water as it drew the fiery pain out of her tormented body. "Thanks, Uncle, you old pervert" she said as she luxuriated in the cold,  finally dragging herself out with immense reluctance to face,  with extreme delight,  the by now expertly aimed throws of the sick-minded youths who had become so addicted this last few hours to the delights of sending three  decent, courageous and lovely  girls to one icy soaking after another.
"Did you get a chance to speak to old Mossy, our very own Gentleman's Hair Stylist?"  asked Julia fresher and cooler after her multiple ducking, although still tender from the attentions of the odious Mrs Patterson and a bevy of other unpleasant village ladies, whose names were inscribed   for ever in her mind.  (They might not know it yet, but they were all due to be paid back with interest in the days that followed)..

"Yes" answered the loyal Beatrice, "He had been asked to lend the bogus priests  a cut throat razor. Mrs Jenkinson was going to shave you, when it came for the time to sacrifice you - I mean your pubic hair of course, not that on your sweet head."

"I'd an idea that might have been what she had in mind, the cow!  Well, lets go and take a look at the bitch.  I bet she's feeling the heat by now, although it's not quite as warm all of a sudden.  I think tomorrow will be another kind of day altogether."

Beatrice shivered.

"It's getting a lot cooler, Julia.  We've had the best of the day, that's for sure.  Let's untie that cow and get off on our walk along the canal."

Julia did not respond to this immediately but seemed lost in thought. Finally.

"I think we'll have to do the sacrifice on the old bat, but not shave her.  Something more painful is in order for her.  Still got that strop?"

"Yes"

"Well, see if you can get your hands on another one or some other suitable leather belt or strap.  We are about to get a bit of exercise - get the circulation going a bit and warm that cow up at the same time!"

...............................................................................................................................................................

"Please let me go, Julia!  I'm going through hell on this slab and now I'm getting cold.  I would never have tied you down so tightly.  Please let me go, I beg you!"

"Get lost, you loathsome woman.  Your ordeal's hardly started."

Julia turned her back on the distraught lady so that she could see her still inflamed buttocks.

"See that, Mrs Jenkinson?  I regard it as partly your doing.  You put that stupid bitch Dorothy up to getting herself spanked and I couldn't think of any other way of outbidding her.  Maybe it was silly of me to lay myself open to the malice of so many people, but I still blame you and now you are going to feel a bit of pain yourself!  Since you feel cold, I'm going to be nice to you and warm you up a bit with Beatrice's assistance.  I got twenty five very painful belts from that Patterson cow and about the same from a variety of other malicious bitches and we are going to pass them on to you, only, since you're lying on your back it'll have to be that very well toned belly of yours that gets it.  OK Beatrice!  Lets get to work on the bitch!"

Beatrice wielded Mr Moss's spare strop and Julia the one that had  done such effective and painful work on her bottom earlier in the day.  Once again, the sound of leather against flesh echoed around the square, now beginning to empty as the citizens repaired to the town's many hostelries.  As the harsh cracking of the lustily wielded strops mingled with the yelps and howls of distress emanating from Mrs Jenkinson's throat, the square began to fill up again as the citizenry, whose appetite for   other people's pain and  discomfort had by no means been sated , emerged from the Rose and Crown, The White Lion, The Feathers and sundry other places of refreshment to stare at the amazing scene.

Mr Fenton-Jones was on the point of coming to his aunt's assistance when one of the locals reminded him that Julia was not a lady to be crossed, especially in her present vindictive and vengeful mood.  He thought of the example of the hospitalised Mrs Patterson, rubbed his own jaw reflectively and decided that his aunt was on her own.  He just hoped Julia and her cousin would desist from their frenzied assault on Mrs Jenkinsons trim athlete's belly before they did her any serious and lasting harm.

After they had given her fifty good hard whacks, turning her belly a bright red to match the hue of Julia's still smarting rear, plus a few more for luck, they stopped, panting and sweating.

"There, you bitch!" said a still angry Julia,  "You'll be feeling a bit warmer now, won't you?  I hope so, because you'll be here all night.  We're off for our walk now.  Sweet dreams!"

Mrs Jenkinson whimpered pitifully and begged to be released, but the merciless and still furious Julia took no notice.  She began to realise that it was going to be a long and cold night for her.

...................................................................................................................

Kylie and Co had returned to their duties as drowned rats after touring the rest of the fete,  attracting as much attention and admiration as the two cousins and a great deal more than the Spotted Lady, who was by this time  rubbing her sore bottom ruefully and cursing Mrs Jenkinson for talking her into it.  Owing to the fact that the blocks of ice had all been used up long ago, the water was getting warmer all the time and they spent another couple of hours splashing happily around before the declining attendance  caused them to bring their unusual experience to an end.  They all agreed that it had been enormous fun once the initial shock had worn off, and accepted Julia's invitation to use her Uncle's pool whenever they felt like it.
 

"Don't bother to bring any swim wear" she had said to them.  "We girls have all grown out of that, haven't we?"

They forgave the Brigadier for his unkindness in making the water so cold, indeed they were inclined to be grateful to him for inadvertently bringing them closer to Julia, a girl they had always been inclined to both like and admire, despite that frigid hauteur, which they had shrewdly guessed to be as much due to shyness as to any kind of malice.  Their feelings towards Mrs J had not softened, however.  They realised that their new friend Julia's terrible suffering was at least partly her doing and rejoiced at her discomfiture, although not openly as she was their landlady and might cause trouble.

When they saw Julia and Beatrice move off to start the ten mile nude walk that was to bring the day's events to a conclusion, they decided to follow, along with many others.  Since Kylie's attire was not available to her to put back on, they all remained nude.  To their surprise, they saw that Dorothy was running to catch up with the cousins.

The square emptied again, leaving Mrs Jenkinson alone and shivering on the marble slab that she had intended as a resting place for Julia,  as the temperature continued to plummet.

..................................................................................................................................................

"What are you tagging along with us for, Dorothy?" asked an irritable Julia whose buttocks were still throbbing painfully and was not about to forget whose doing it was.

"Oi'm being sponsored as well.  Mrs Jenkinson thought you might not be well enough when she came to see me the other day.  Does it hurt Julia?  It looks awfully red!"

"Mind your own business!  And take those shoes off, if you must come with us.  This is a naked walk.  Do you see anything on our feet?"

"OK Julia.  What do I do with them?"

"I don't know!  Give them to one of your many lovers, you've pretty well the whole village to choose from, to say nothing of the rest of the county!  Go on!   Get rid of them.  You're holding us up, you stupid girl!"

The two cousins continued to walk towards the towpath and Dorothy, after handing her shoes to a bystander, ran to catch them up, already feeling sore-footed even before she drew level.  The trio walked in silence for a couple of miles, poor Dorothy showing more and more signs of distress as the sharp stones on the gravelled path cut into her tender soles.
........................................................................................................................................................

"Oh come on you stupid ugly cow, you're holding us up.  Whatever have I ever done to desreve being lumbered with a half wit like you?"  Julia' temper was not improving and her still sore behind served as a constant reminder of the fact that she had Dorothy to thank for it.

"Don't talk to me loike that, Julia.  It isn't noice."

"Stupid ugly cow."

"Oi dare you to say that again you stuck up bitch"

"Very stupid, nil witted very ugly cow! Go away and get out my hair you horse faced bitch!"

An enraged Dorothy, who, although good natured and slow to take offence, was in some pain herself by this time and getting to be as irritable as Julia,  aimed a mighty punch at her tormentor.  Julia saw it coming a mile away and ducked, aiming two wicked punches of her own, neither of which missed, one to the face and the other just below the ribs.  Dorothy's legs buckled momentarily but she quickly recovered.  She was a strong girl and it would take more than a couple of blows to stop her.

Fired up by the pain, Dorothy lashed out again and this time Julia was not entirely successful in avoiding the big girl's fist which glanced off her shoulder, stinging Julia a little but doing no harm.  Both girls squared up to each other and prepared for a long and bloody fight to the finish.

A horrified Beatrice, at some risk to herself, stepped between the combatants.

"Stop it, both of you!  Apologise to Dorothy, Julia  for being so unkind and let's get this walk over with."  When neither girl showed any sign of backing down, she continued  " Well -  if you must fight, and maybe you do need to get it out of your system, don't do it here.  What about that field?  Plenty of room for spectators and we can charge them all a pound for each round.  We are still on duty, you know and supposed to be raising money for a good cause.  We'll need a timekeeper and seconds.  I don't suppose either of you want a referee to spoil the fun?  No.  I thought not!  Oh, look here's your Giles and a couple of friends!"
"Can I say a couple of things to you, Dorothy, before we continue our fight?"

"What, Julia?" asked the battered Dorothy, her eyes almost closed and her face a bloody mess after seven rounds, during which she had hardly landed a blow on the skilful Julia.  The two combatants had just come out of their respective improvised corners to start another round.

"Number one.  You're a wonderful and brave girl.  I'd be proud to call you my friend. I truly would!"

Dorothy blinked in surprise.  "What else, Julia.  You said two things?"

"I'm sorry for the wicked way I spoke to you back there.  Will you please forgive me, not only for that but what I've done to that poor nice face of yours?  I won't hit you again, but you are welcome to hit me as hard and as many times as you like. I won't duck, I promise you!  I deserve it!  Go on.  Go ahead!"

Dorothy shook her head and tears trickled down her cheeks.

"I don't want to fight you any more, Julia - not if you're saying you're sorry.  Shake hands?"

Julia stepped up to her bruised ex opponent and gently brushed the proffered hand aside.

"I think we can do better than a handshake, sweetheart!"  and she put her arms around Dorothy and gently kissed her bruised face, the tears streaming down her own cheeks as she did so.

The watching crowd began to drift away.  Some were glad to see the two girls settle their differences in such a tender way and others were disappointed to be denied the sight of Dorothy's body slumping senseless to the ground.  Giles, who had been watching his beloved's merciless demolition of a completely unskilled but plucky opponent with growing disgust, breathed a sigh of relief, his faith in Julia's basic decency and goodness restored.

"Our walk along the towpath had better be cancelled, Beatrice.  Dear Dorothy's in no state to go through with it and I want to help her clean up a bit after the mess I made of her.  How I hate myself for that.  How could I ever have been so vicious?"

"Oi hit you first, Julia, or tried to and I did get you a sore bum as well as one for myself!.  And I'm OK really I am.  I want to finish the walk.  You might need to help me along towards the end, but Oi'll be foine."

Julia smiled at her latest friend - she was making quite a few today!- and told her she had better retrieve her shoes at the very least.  Dorothy shook her head obstinately and said she would go on until her feet were cut to ribbons and still keep going, even after that.

Both cousins congratulated her on her spirit and the three set off, with the still nude ex mermaids a few paces behind.

They rounded a bend  and reached a point where the road and the towpath met.  A car was parked at this spot and the Rector,   Jerry Scott-Talbot was standing by it waiting for the girls to draw level.  He was with another gentleman whom Julia remembered having seen earlier during the course of her chastisement.

"Beatrice!  I would like a word if I may.  Would you step a little aside.  I don't want to be overheard."

The puzzled girl agreed.   For the first time that day she was very embarrassed.  She knew the good rector must disapprove of her nudity  and she had always liked the man and wanted to please him for some reason she could never quite fathom.

"Beatrice, I know it must seem a very odd time to ask you this, but I'm moving on soon.  My friend here, Professor Potts-Johnson has unofficially/officially passed on an offer of an Archdeaconry in London.  I have decided I must move on and will accept.  One reason I didn't go a couple of years ago was that I didn't want to leave a town which had your charming presence in it!  What I am trying to say is, will you come to London with me, as my wife?"

For some reason, Beatrice was not surprised at this amazing request - a man of the cloth proposing to a naked girl in full view of other  naked girls and a bevy of townsfolk.  She heard, from a great distance, her voice saying "Yes.  Oh! Yes, please!  Darling Jerry.  I can see it now so clearly.  I've loved you myself for years, even when I was a tiny girl, I adored you.  How silly of us not to have realised it before!" and her naked body  was immediately enfolded by the delighted Rector's arms.  A ripple of applause broke out and an ecstatically happy Beatrice was bundled willingly into the car and driven away.

"Well!  Who'd have thought that?  Poor old Piers and WHERE has he got to?" said a bemused Julia.  "Looks like it's just you and me, Dorothy my dear!"

"And us" chimed in Kylie and company.  "Don't forget us.  We're coming all the way as well."

Julia laughed, her pain forgotten and even her animosity against Mrs Jenkinson   in abeyance.  She sent her faithful Giles back to the village to release the poor shivering Councillor and rejoined her new friends to complete the day's activities.  She wondered what next year's fete would be like.  One thing she knew for certain.  Dorothy would not be painted with spots again to be an object of ridicule.  No friend of hers was going to suffer that indignity!

THE END FOR NOW