Chapter 15

"On that first media day, maybe we could have a girl in the pillory, just for show. Offer girls a bonus to be first one in. Jesus, that would boost ratings."

The committee was debating the opening arrangements, still well in the future, they hadn't even had a good look at the Village yet, let alone secured ownership of it, but negotiations were going well, and it was fun just talking about the options.

Sandra, seated at the conference table, flushed, remembering the times she had been in the pillory with everyone watching, here in the conference room, or in the flat with Phil. In particular she remembered Stephanie's skilful touch and her embarrassing response in front of everyone!

Sam nodded. "Nice idea. What else could we do? Any new ideas?"

"Um chief, when Phil first mentioned the BDSM room, he mentioned whips?"

Sam gave the speaker a hard look. "So what are you thinking?"

"Well back in the middle ages husbands would beat wives for little things, like talking too much. And um well all kids got the cane at school."

This led to another long silence.

The health and safety man spoke up. "We actually do need to provide schooling for the kids. We will have about forty of them, taken away from school for maybe months. Fortunately the village already seems to have a school house."

Sam butted in. "I have already suggested to Stephanie that she can be the village school teacher. We can certainly let her spank the kids. That should be great television, her in a skimpy school teacher uniform, the kid over her lap. Not sure how we could stop the boy spunking!

"But perhaps we should reserve the cane for more formal use, by some village senior perhaps, that Stephanie sends naughty children to? Lots of ceremony and anguish? Waiting outside his office in a line? Listening to the one who went in last getting it, close up shot of the kid's face as he waits, dreading it?" Sam was actually reliving something from his far away past!

"Bags I be that village senior," someone said, and everyone laughed, but Sam said no, it probably would have to be a member of the families, maybe a different man voted into the position each week?

"So he would be naked as he canes them? Interesting to watch his cock wobble as he swings! And a real danger he will spunk on camera," someone laughed.

"Okay Debbie soon as the meeting is over go look up mediaeval punishments. Not the inquisition type of thing, just the stuff that was considered to be normal back then, in the villages."

The room buzzed with excited ideas, dredged up from past reading and no doubt earlier browsing through the internet.

Sam chuckled and held his hands up for silence. "Okay guys let's not get carried away. There must be some limits to what we can do on live television. We will let Debbie do some research, and she can report back at tomorrow's meeting. Debbie, how about you come to my office for a preliminary briefing on what you have found, at five o'clock today. Sandra, Phil, you should both be there. And Stephanie of course." Sandra groaned, the boss really had quite a perverted sense of humour. She wondered yet again if he was screwing Debbie too.

At the appointed hour Debbie walked in to the chief's office with a thick bundle of notes. She grinned at Sam, Stephanie, Sandra and Phil then went to the end of the table and began her presentation.

"I could go on researching this stuff all week, it's very erotic. Where do you want to start?"

"Wives."

"Okay, well in those days women were definitely not emancipated! Not one bit! How do you think the audiences would react if we impose that on the families? Wives having to obey husbands?"

Sam thought they would love it. Sandra had a more rational approach. "The men will love it, most women will resent it, but some women will find it exciting."

"So that's not a complete embargo, Sandra? You think we can at least consider going that way?" Sandra nodded. Sam noticed that Stephanie was looking a bit stressed, and concluded that her dad must have tried to run her family that way. He resolved to explore getting the family included into the project so Stephanie could get her revenge.

"What exactly are you suggesting, Debbie?"

"Well chief, I was thinking we could make it a condition of being selected for the village that wives must agree to obey their husbands."

"My God! No modern wives will go for that!"

"Think about it chief, think about the prizes. We could even have a prize each week for the most obedient wife. As voted in by the viewers. Remember, we get paid for every vote cast by telephone."

"Every week! Jesus." The room was silent as they all considered that.

"But hang on, we proposed the other day that husbands wouldn't be in the same cottage as their wives. Each cottage will have a husband, a wife, sons, and daughters, all from different families. Are wives going to have to obey another woman's husband?"

"Oh yes, perfect!"

"They won't ever agree to that, not without knowing the guys beforehand!"

Phil, always practical, came in with, "We only need sixteen families, sixteen wives, to agree. Currently I believe we have well over two hundred families seriously competing for selection, all doing training, and probably all of them would do more if we told them to. Surely if the prizes are high enough, at least sixteen of them will agree to anything we say."

"Okay Debbie research that, come up with more ideas before tomorrow's meeting. But off the cuff, what exactly are you suggesting?"

"Well, you heard mention earlier of the scold's bridle." She handed Sam a print off the internet. "This is the sort of thing. It goes around the head and has a plate that goes inside the mouth, holding the tongue still. It was used for a wife who talked back to her husband." Sam studied the picture, smiled, and passed it around.

"Might be a bit extreme, chief," whispered Sandra.

"Phil, get onto props, let's get one made, we can try it out before we decide either way."

Debbie spoke up. "I guessed you might want that chief so I already asked props to do it. They will have it for the meeting tomorrow."

Sandra quailed at the prospect, knowing that one of the girls at the meeting would be used for the trial, in the conference room, in front of everyone. Hopefully the boss would pick cute little Annabelle, who was just the secretary and didn't need to be able to speak.