Kathy had finished her six month probationary period as a trainee flight attendant, and had been working for the airline for just over a year. She certainly had the Midas touch, with her winning smile and the silky way she floated around the aircraft. Her attractive hourglass figure appealed to the male passengers, and her charming manner to the ladies. She looked fantastic in her uniform; thigh-length navy blue dress with red trim, wide leather belt, flesh-coloured tights and navy blue court shoes. Her make-up was always applied with care and attention and her hair was fixed in a beehive, the fashion of the 1960s.

Flight FN462 to Frankfurt had taken off safely. The passengers were a mixture of businessmen and members of families who worked or lived between the two cities. Flights during the winter months weren’t always full, and this one in late February was half empty, so Kathy and Jacky, more experienced than Kathy, could easily handle it on their own. They hadn’t worked together since Kathy’s maiden flight, a memorable one for Kathy as she had managed to upset ‘Merciless Mandy’ the lead stewardess, and as a consequence had sported a pretty sore bottom on the return flight.

Jacky had noticed a few weeks before that both she and Kathy were working the same flight and had excitedly arranged for them to meet up the night before at a club in London with some groovy chaps she knew. They had a few drinks, smoked a little weed and then about 3.00 am hailed a black cab to take them to their overnight hotel near Heathrow.

The flight wasn’t scheduled until late afternoon, so there was plenty of time to have a lie-in and get ready to board the plane. However, both girls overslept and so got up just after midday, later than planned. They were more hurried than either would have liked. Once she had got dressed, Kathy threw her jeans and blouse from the night before straight into her suitcase without a second thought. Jacky hurriedly finished her packing and they set off for the airport.

Walking through the departure areas was one of the best parts of the job. Everyone they passed identified them as flight attendants because of their striking uniform and the pair invited as many admiring looks as possible. Inevitably there was the odd whistle, returned with a cheeky smile.

Flight FN462 touched down in Frankfurt at 7.00 pm and the passengers quickly disembarked. One last check of the aircraft to ensure there was no litter, and Kathy was positive everything was ready for the next crew, whoever they were and whenever it was scheduled to depart.

Everyone had to pass through Customs and for air crew it was usually just a formality. Occasionally, there was a routine check and on this occasion Jacky and Kathy were asked to open their suitcases. Confident all was well, they conversed as best they could with the imposing female official about the weather, the flight and so forth.

Heidi had worked in the German Customs and Excise Department for over 30 years and was the only officer on duty at Frankfurt airport that evening. She cut a tall, athletic, muscular figure, even though she was in her mid-fifties. She was quite pretty, in an angular sort of way, and her uniform fitted snugly against her body accentuating her ample breasts. She had seen many changes during her time with the border task force. As she searched Kathy’s suitcase, she checked the items of clothing and from the back left pocket of the jeans Kathy had worn the night before, she pulled out a small packet of cannabis. As she held it up, both Kathy and Jacky looked on in horror.

Heidi was just as surprised as the girls. She had never had to interrogate an air hostess before. However, it was her duty to do things by the book.

“Is this yours?” she asked.

“Oh no, well, yes. Look, I’m really sorry,” Kathy said. “It was from last night and I didn’t have time to empty my pockets before catching my flight. I’m not smuggling it in, it was an accident.”

“I see.” Heidi looked at Jacky. “Are you her travelling companion?”

“Yes, erm, no. Well, we work for the same airline and we have just come in on the same flight from England,” she stuttered.

Addressing both flight attendants, Heidi continued. “I think I had better search you both in the back room and then I will decide what to do.”

“This,” she held the little bag up. “Is an illegal substance in this country, so you are technically both at this moment under house arrest. Please step this way.”

She led both the girls from the main customs area into a room which looked a bit like a hospital treatment bay.

“Let’s start with your persons. Strip off all your clothes so I can search you.”

“What? No, no. There is no need for that,” protested Kathy.

“I am the only officer here and I have the right to search both of you. I am just following the procedures,” Heidi said in a very matter-of-fact voice. “I think it is better that we do this here rather than going to the police station where my male counterparts would take matters into their own hands.”

On hearing ‘police station’, both girls realised they had no choice. They quickly helped each other out of their uniform dresses and stripped completely. Heidi searched them both, then searched their uniforms and had another thorough look through their cases. Parts of the physical examination were very intrusive and uncomfortable and the girls felt quite humiliated and somewhat violated. However, they were thankful it was a female doing the searching and that no more drugs were found.

“You may now get dressed,” Heidi said pointing at their neatly folded uniforms and underwear. Both girls quickly put their bras and knickers back on, pulled their tights up and then slid into their dresses and tied their belts around their waists. They were then allowed to repack their suitcases.

“You,” she looked at Kathy. “Will be charged with attempting to smuggle a small quantity of drugs from the UK into Germany. You will stay here overnight in one of our cells and will be handed over to a magistrate tomorrow morning. It is too late to do anything further this evening.”

Both girls looked shocked and tried to protest but couldn’t think of any excuse other than that which had already been said. It was not looking good and the situation became all too real when Kathy’s passport was taken off her.

Jacky said she would go to their hotel, make some phones calls and return first thing in the morning with a translator and a lawyer to help find a solution.

“Don’t worry, you won’t be going to jail or anything like that,” Jacky tried to be as upbeat and positive as possible. “I will sort it out.”

Jacky embraced her friend, took her suitcase and left. Kathy was taken to a holding centre at the back of the airport and put in her own cell. It had a metal-framed bed with a thin mattress and one pillow. It wasn’t too dirty but it certainly wasn’t homely. There was a toilet and washbasin in one corner on the same side as the bed, and pushed widthways against the middle of the opposite wall was an old oak table. Kathy noticed the table was curiously positioned and that it had two leather clasps screwed onto the top in the furthest two corners. It looked quite medieval; she shuddered.

The night passed slowly with Kathy dreading the outcome of the following morning. She lay there in the dark, still wearing her uniform with two blankets that were on the bed covering. She was warm enough.

Kathy was woken at 6.00 am with a breakfast tray delivered by Heidi. On it was a cup of coffee and some bread with ham and cheese. She thanked Heidi, who smiled, and finished it pretty quickly as she was by now quite hungry. At 7.30 am she was taken to an interview room and, true to her word, Jacky was there with two men.

“Hi,” Jacky said in an apologetic and rather glum voice. “This is Kurt, a specialist in German Customs and Excise law, and this is Hans who can translate for us.

After much discussion it turned out that things were not good at all. Kathy was facing several months in prison, together with a criminal record. There was, however, the possibility of parole for good behaviour after two months, but by then she would have been dismissed by the airline.

“The authorities here are trying to crack down on drugs and hence they are taking every case, no matter how minor, very seriously. If you plead guilty they won’t go that hard on you.”

Kathy was speechless. “Several months in jail is going easy on me?” she wailed. “Are there no other alternatives?” She was panicking and begging for another way out.

“Not really. In the olden days the customs officers had more leeway to take matters into their own hands. Those caught carrying small amounts of illegal substances might have had a choice and may have ‘got away’ with a sound spanking. However, the days of the customs officers wielding a thick leather strap and applying it liberally to the bare bottoms of errant arrivals are long gone, I’m afraid,” said Kurt.

“Kathy remembered her spanking at the hands of Merciless Mandy. It was unpleasant and no doubt this would be much worse and much more painful, but infinitely better than jail.

“Are you sure that this isn’t an option. You know, one that would keep the police out of it?” Kathy persisted.

“Well, I will see what I can do,” said Hans, and the two men left the room.

An hour or so later they returned.

“You are in some ways lucky that Heidi, the officer who found the drugs hasn’t yet reported it and she still remembers the ‘good’ old days. She was moaning that the paperwork these days is too time-consuming and that a good hard spanking used to be an excellent deterrent for a first offence, especially if it wasn’t that serious.

“On this occasion, she is prepared to overlook procedures and punish you herself as an alternative. She would not report the incident to the authorities and the airline won’t hear of it either. She is actually quite pleased that she won’t have to fill in lots of forms and attend a court hearing. ‘Swift justice’ she called it.”

Kathy was on the one hand relieved and on the other hand nervous, but she agreed to take the punishment and hence keep her job, avoid a criminal record, and not have to spend time in jail. Just as they were leaving, she asked Hans and Kurt how many strokes she would be getting.

“Oh yes, sorry, I forgot,” said Hans. “Heidi told us that in the old days she was sanctioned to give up to 50 strokes of the leather strap on the bare bottom. That would have been ten strokes every morning for five days.”

Kathy’s eyes widened in horror. “50 strokes,” she repeated, shaking her head. “Over five days.”

Kurt shook his head “In your case there was a small amount of a ‘soft drug’, and Heidi can see it was a genuine mistake. Hence, she is prepared to reduce the punishment to ten strokes, which means you can take your punishment all in one session this morning and still be able to work on your scheduled flight this afternoon. She did say that the strokes would be painful and that you won’t be getting off lightly.”

Kathy had no choice. With tears in her eyes and being comforted by Jacky, she nodded agreement.

Heidi entered the room once Hans and Kurt had left. She indicated that Jacky should follow both Kathy and herself. On arriving back at Kathy’s cell, there was a thick leather strap already on the wooden table. It was about 18 inches in length and looked at lot more substantial than the belt around Kathy’s waist, which had been the last implement to burn her backside.

“Lift your dress,” Heidi said.

Kathy undid her belt, put it on the bed and raised her uniform dress, just like she had done for ‘Merciless Mandy’ a year ago. She revealed her black lacy knickers, of the French variety, which could be seen through the standard issue flesh-coloured tights.

“Bend over the table.” Heidi pointed at the wooden table in the cell.

Kathy did exactly as she was told and lay flat on the wooden table. Heidi took her arms and stretched them so that her wrists fitted into the clasps at the far edge. The clasps were locked shut, which left Kathy feeling very vulnerable.

Kathy’s dress was now over her back, her waist was against the edge of the table and her knickers and tights were stretched over her bottom. Having secured Kathy’s wrists, Heidi wasted no time in pulling down Kathy’s tights and knickers to mid-thigh, leaving her legs clamped together at the top but her feet and lower legs free.

Once again, it seemed Kathy was bent over, held firmly in position with her bottom bared ready for a spanking.

Heidi spoke to Jacky, “You are here to witness the punishment. I will start with five strokes.” Her tone was dispassionate and she swiftly took her position to Kathy’s left.

CRACK. The first searing stroke lit up Kathy’s bottom. It connected just below centre and Jacky saw the white flesh immediately spring to life. It wobbled on contact and then a livid red band appeared where the strap had struck.

Kathy howled. This was indeed much worse than taking the belt, and she tugged against the clasps, but to no avail. Her bottom wriggled and her lower legs flailed away.

There wasn’t much of a pause before CRACK, the next stroke arrived. Just slightly higher than the first so that half of the resulting band of red overlapped with the first. Kathy’s pert bottom was now burning and another howl rang round the cell as Kathy wriggled again in pain.

‘I can’t take ten of these,’ Kathy thought as the pain subsided just a little and her feet once again were on the floor.

Heidi knew how a judicial punishment was carried out and in the olden days she had become very adept at taking the strap back to its fullest extent, swinging fast with her muscular arm, and landing the stroke in exactly the right spot. She’d had quite a lot of practice back then and the result each time was a very painful spanking, designed not to be forgotten. She had not lost her touch.

Three more evenly-spaced strokes followed, by which time most of Kathy’s lily white buttocks were red and sore from the kiss of the strap. Kathy was grunting and groaning and wriggling on the table, trying all means to avoid the strap and the pain. Lower legs apart, lower legs together, bottom cheeks clenched and then not clenched; nothing really helped as her wrists were securely fastened by the clasps and her upper legs by her own tights and knickers.

Heidi paused after the first five strokes and there was silence in the cell, apart from Kathy sobbing and apologising for her error.

Heidi stepped to Kathy’s right and proceeded to lay on another three strokes, this time swinging with a backhand from above the shoulder. The strap again scorched Kathy’s bottom, but the different angle caught a few untouched places and her bottom turned a darker red. Kathy howled and wriggled as she took her thrashing. CRACK – CRACK - CRACK.

On her way back to Kathy’s right to finish the job, Heidi had a good look at the crimson bottom to ensure all was well and that the final two strokes could be administered. She smiled at Jacky and nodded that all was well. Jacky was trying not to look at her friend who was being severely punished for what was, after all, a simple but costly mistake.

Heidi resumed her starting position and she delivered the final two strokes with equal force as the previous eight. CRACK – CRACK, the strap met its target. These two cut low down on Kathy’s bottom, the first close to and the last one directly on the crease where buttocks meet the legs. The tender flesh raged and Kathy, despite her bottom feeling sore all over, considered these the most painful as she writhed on the table.

Her job done, Heidi let Kathy recover for a moment or two and then released her wrists. Kathy stood up and gently felt her sore bottom, which was hot to the touch and, she had no doubt, was swollen. Heidi gave Jacky some lotion and, with the strap in her hand, left the room smiling.

“You poor thing,” Jacky sympathised with Kathy. “Let’s get those tights and knickers off as you won’t want to pull them up just yet. Lie face down on the bed.”

With her knickers and tights removed and dress out of the way, Kathy lay on the bed so that Jacky could rub two lots of cooling lotion gently into the crimson, swollen buttocks. This helped a little with the burning.

“Wow, this looks really sore. It must have been worse than the thrashing Merciless Mandy gave you.”

“A different league for sure,” replied Kathy, for the first time realising that most of her fellow cabin crew had heard about her punishment the year before.

Once composed, Kathy stood up and put her tights on so she was ready for the return flight that afternoon. She decided she would be better off without her knickers for the rest of the day as the elastic would cut into the tender areas. They left the room and made their way back to the customs area. Kathy collected her suitcase and passport from Heidi and both she and Jacky joined the rest of the crew for the journey back to London Heathrow.

‘Woe betide any male passenger who tries to pinch my bottom this afternoon,’ Kathy thought as she boarded the plane.

Needless to say, Kathy left the cannabis for Heidi to dispose of and had nothing to declare but a very sore bottom for the next four days.

The End

© Colin Brooks 2024

Colin is happy to be contacted and take feedback from his stories: colinbrookscp@gmail.com.