A QUIET EVENING

Juliette was looking forward to a quiet evening.   She normally brought loads of marking home from school but at the beginning of term she was well up to date.

She sat and read a book, her cat snuggling on her lap until the telephone ring disturbed her journey through the her imagination.    She went to answer it - a double glazing sales person trying to sell her new windows.    It always annoyed her but as the person at the other end of the line was talking she heard something break in the lounge.   'Damned cat,' she said to herself.   It wasn't the first time that it had  tried to climb up onto  the mantelpiece and it was not the first time she had lost ornaments.   She returned to the lounge but as she walked through the door, she was grabbed from behind and a hand was clapped over her mouth.   'Don't make a sound' do you understand?'

Juliette was frozen with fear, and resisted the urge to scream.   Almost immediately something was tied tightly across her eyes, and she could see nothing.   'Now listen lady,' said the voice of the man,' I'm going to remove my hand from your mouth.    Don't dare make a sound.'   She felt the silk scarf that she was wearing loosely around her neck untied and then the hand was removed but as Juliette gasped for air, the scarf was pulled between her teeth and tied at the back of her neck.   She moaned in protest, but little intelligible sound emerged from her.

Juliette was then thrust into the room.   She stumbled, and as she did so her wrists were seized, pulled behind her back, crossed  and tied tightly together with a piece of rope.    Terror gripped her. As now unable to see and speak, freedom was being robbed.   She was now lying on the floor, and was even more perturbed to find her ankles tied with another piece of rope.    She tested both bonds, but whoever had tied them had done them tightly and securely.

Hands gripped her upper arms and stood her up.    She balanced unsteadily on her bound feet, but seconds later, someone took hold of her upper arms and steadied her.    She felt something around her head, soft and silky, and then she realised that someone was tying a headscarf on her.  She felt the ends crossed underneath her chin and taken round the back of the neck and knotted securely.    Then she felt the front of the scarf pulled well forward on her head.    Next a coat was draped round her shoulders, and then, with some relief her ankles were untied.    The voice that next addressed her was female.

'Listen lady, you're coming with us for a ride.   Don't think about rescue coming just yet.   The weather outside is wet and windy and with that headscarf on you look as though you're properly dressed for the weather.   No-one will see the gag and these dark glasses will cover the blindfold.'    She felt glasses being put on under the scarf.   'Now let's go.'

Juliette was led out of the house, down the drive and was helped into a car that was obviously parked behind hers on the drive.    She was helped into the back seat and her ankles were retied before the car engine was started and it started to move.

As the car drove away, Juliette realised that all this must had happened in less than ten minutes.   Who were these people?   What did they want?   Where were they going?   Questions raced through her head as the car sped on its mysterious journey.   She pulled on the rope that bound her wrists and ankles, but there was no give in either.

The journey was short and over quite quickly.    The door was opened, her ankles were freed and  Juliette was helped out of the car and led over ground which seemed quite uneven.    The coolness of the autumn evening breeze fanned her face, although the silken cocoon around her head at least kept her warm.    Then they entered a building, went down some stairs and stopped as she was pushed up against something upright.  

Her hands were untied and the thought occurred to her that perhaps this was some sort of practical joke by one of her friends.    Some of them were certainly daft enough to try this sort of thing.   But just as she thought that her nightmare was coming to an end, she was turned round with her back against what was obviously an upright wooden post and her wrists were pulled behind it crossed and roped tightly together.   She tried to struggle but it was futile;  she was held firmly.   She started to whimper and call out through the gag.   'Shut up woman or else I'll make sure you shut up.'    The threat sounded real so she calmed down.   But when she felt her ankles tied again and then roped to the post, panic started to set in.   She pulled and pulled and writhed against the restraining ropes but nothing loosened.   The problem was that the more she struggled, the more ropes seemed to attach her to the tree.    She felt a rope placed around her chest and then around her upper arms, another held her knees together and to the post and yet another kept her thighs close and attached to the post.   Another was tied around her waist and then tied around her wrists.   By the time all this had been done, she had almost no movement.   Again she started to moan through the gag.   'You asked for this,' said the man's voice in a threatening manner.    Almost immediately, she felt a ball of silk wedged between her teeth and pulled hard behind her head.    The effect was to pull the scarf that already gagged her deeper into her mouth.     Then another scarf was tied over this and worse still, it was tied to the post so holding her head still.

'We shouldn't be too long,' said the woman's voice.    'If all goes well, we shall be back in about twenty minutes.    If I were you I should pray that our business goes smoothly, or you'll be here for quite a long time..'      

She heard footsteps receding and then she was alone.    Again she tested the bonds but there was no give in any of them.

How long would she have to wait like this??