A Quiet Night In

“Mum – are you in?”

I came into the house, putting my bag down on the floor as I put my coat on the hook. I was still getting used to using that word again – Mum – despite the fact the wedding had been months before now.

Not that it was a bad thing – it was a wonderful word to use, but it had been so long... Anyway, I heard her say “In the kitchen Louise – come away in,” so I went through to see her sitting at the table, dressed in a blue jacket and dress as she drank some coffee.

“Did you get it?”

“I did,” Mum said with a smile, “so I’m afraid you may need to keep an eye on each other after school once I start.”

“Why’s that Mom,” Freddie said as he came in. Obviously, we were both in school uniform, but I got the skirt while Freddie got the trousers.

“I got the job at the bank today,” Mum said with a smile, “and I’ve told your father, so we’re all going out for dinner tonight.”

“Great,” I said before I got to the really important matter at hand. “Did you talk about Friday night?”

“Friday? Why would I need to talk to your father about Friday?”

“MUM!”

“I’m joking, I’m joking,” Mum said as she laughed, “I did , and we’re in agreement, so long as the other mothers agree as well.”

“Agree to what?”

“Sleepover on Friday – we don’t have school that day, and...”

“Oh great – the four of them here on a sleepover?” Freddie shook his head as he said “I’m going to my room, to do my homework,” and walked out, picking up his schoolbag as he walked up the stairs.

“What’s his problem?”

“The only boy in a house full of girls? Go and get your homework done, and then get changed. I’ll call the other mothers and make sure they are happy with it.”

“Thanks Mum,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek, and went off to my own room. It really was great to have a mum again...

“Damn, damn, damn...”

As I sat my desk, doing the math assignment I had been set, I was trying to reconcile myself to the fact Friday was about to be ruined for me. Having the day off class was good, but then – oh, the torture...

I heard the knock on the door, and then Mom saying “can I come in” as she opened the door.

“Sure mom – sorry if I was angry downstairs,” I said as I turned round.

“Not a problem – living with a sister takes some getting used to, after all, and this is the first time Louise will have had her friends round since we got here.” Sitting on the bed, she looked at me and said “You know, you’re getting to look more like your dad every day.”

“Do you miss him still?”

“A little – but you have a new father now, who cares about you very much. And because he does, he has a suggestion to put to you?”

“Oh?”

“Why don’t you give Frank Cottrell a call, and see if it’s all right for you to stop over there on Friday night? Your dad and I are going to steer clear of the girls all night, so you should think about doing the same.”

I looked at the best mom in the world, and said “that’s a great idea. Can I call him now?”

“Go on – use the phone in our room,” Mom said, as I went through and sat on the bed, dialling the number. A few moments later, I heard Mrs Cottrell saying “Hello, Cottrell Farm.”

“Hello Mrs Cottrell, it’s Freddie Hawkins here. Is Frank there?”

“Hang on,” she said as I heard her call out, and then Frank saying “Hey Freddie – what can I do for you?”

“Get me out of hell – Louise is having a sleepover, and I was wondering if there was any chance of me staying with you on Friday.”

“Let me check with mum,” he said as the line went dead for a few minutes. I looked at Mom standing in the doorway, before Frank came back and said “Yeah, you can stay over – provided Dad says it’s all right. In fact... Why don’t I see if Charlie can stay over as well?”

“That would be great. Call me back later and let me know,” I said as I smiled. If Charlie could make it, it would be an epic night.

“He’s really going to be out of the way all night?”

“Yes I am,” Freddie said as we sat having our lunch on the Friday. “The moment Fiona shows up, I am outta here – you four can have the place to yourselves for the entire night – Mom and Dad excepted of course.”

“Oh we’re staying out of the way,” Dad said as he looked at us, “I need to go on a business trip Saturday afternoon, and your mum and I want some quality alone time, so we’re staying well out of the way.”

“And we’re not going to disturb them,” I said as I stuck my tongue out at Freddie. “so when are you scampering off to spend the night with the boys?”

“That’s enough from both of you,” Dad said as he shook his head. “You can both wash and put away the dishes now.”

“Yes Dad,” I said as we both started to collect the plates up. I was wearing a white sweatshirt, pink leggings with white flowers and socks, while Freddie was – well, he was Freddie.

As he went off to pack his bag, Mum said “so what exactly are you girls going to be doing tonight?”

“You know – eat snacks, drink too much, watch some movies, and talk about boys. The usual stuff.”

“All right – then you had better help me to get some chips and dips sorted out.”

“Why would we want to put chips into dips?”

“She means crisps,” Dad said, “and you need to be taught how to make popcorn as well. I’ll make sure Freddie is getting his stuff together, and run him round later.”

“Right,” Mum said as she found a heavy pan, “Let’s do a test run of the popcorn first, shall we?”

“Hey Fiona,” I said as she came in the door, her mum handing Mum her overnight bag, “ready for a fun night.”

“You betcha – and no boys?”

“No boys – Freddie will be on his way in a little while. Come on through – we’re sorting out the food for later.”

“Is that fresh popcorn?”

“It is,” Mum said, “I’ve buttered it, but I’ll use sugar for the stuff later. Try it.”

Fiona picked up apiece and tried it, smiling as she chewed on it. She took off her coat, repealing a pink Hello Kitty top and blue jeans, before she went to hang it up, taking off her trainers and leaving them by the door as well.

“So when are the other two coming round?”

“In an hour or so, so we’ve got plenty of time...”

I smiled as Dad knocked on the door of the Cottrell farm, and Mrs Cottrell opened it.

“Hi Linda,” Dad said, “one son safely deposited.”

“Frank and Eric are feeding the chickens out back,” Mrs Cottrell said as she looked at me, “why don’t you go and give them a hand and your dad can bring in your things.”

“Thanks,” I said as I walked round, finding Frank and Eric in their jeans and jumpers, scattering seed on the pen where the chickens walked about.

“Hey,” Frank said as he saw me walk round, “grab a handful and give us a hand.”

“Thanks – where’s Mark?”

“Out in the top field with Trojan – he’s using today to till some of the ground with the plough.”

I nodded – after all, this was a real farm, so I gave them a hand to feed the birds, before we put some feed in the trough for the pigs and some fresh hay for their horse.

We then went into the house, leaving our shoes by the back door as Mrs Cottrell gave us all some cold milk.

“I’ll start sorting dinner out for you boys,” she said as we put our glasses down, “your father and I are going to go out tonight, and Mark is going to keep an eye on all of you.”

“Which means he stays in the front room, and we keep out of his way,” Eric said with a smile as we all went to the stairs – only to stop when there as a knock on the door.

“Hey,” Charlie Williamson said as he came in, Eric going to watch some television as Mr Williamson put Charlie’s bag down by mine, and we went up to Frank’s room.

“Well, this is a good way to spend a Friday night – but why are we three gathered here anyway?”

“To keep out of the way of the worst horror know to young mankind,” I said quietly, “the girly sleepover.”

“Sleepover? Who and where?”

“My place,” I said as I looked out of Frank’s window, from which you could see our house. “Come and see.”

All three of us looked out of the window to see Patty and Rachel walking to my front door, Rachel’s dad carrying two bags behind them.

“All four of them, at your house, tonight? Where are your mum and dad?”

“Staying in their bedroom.”

I turned my head to see Charlie looking at my house, stroking his chin.

“Hey Freddie – have you got a back door key?”

“Yeah – why?”

I saw Charlie looking out of the window again, before he said “I think we should go over and invite the girls to play a little game of Slumber Capture.”

“What?”

“Come on – the four of them, sleepover, your parents staying out of the way? It’s perfect – we make their night by kidnapping them one by one.”

“I don’t know,” Frank said quietly, “the idea of sneaking out of the house and into yours...”

“You’re not afraid, are you Frank?”

Looking at me, Frank nodded and said “I don’t want to get into trouble.”

“Gotta admit, Charlie, I don’t exactly want to get into Mom and Dad’s bad books either. It’s a bit too close to the knuckle.”

“Your folks are going out, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Frank said quietly, “but Mark’s in charge. You’d need to get past him.”

Charlie just smiled...

“Right,” Rachel said as she replaced her glasses, having cleaned them, “thanks for the wonderful tea, Mrs Hobson.”

“Yeah, thanks Mum,” I said as we sat round the dining room table.

“Well, you girls go into the front room, and decide what you’re going to do,” Mum said, “so that we can get thing set up before your father and I beat a dignified retreat.”

The four of us went into the main room, sitting down as Fiona said “so where is that brother of yours?”

“Staying at the Cottrell farm, way out of our way – guaranteed a boy free zone tonight,” I said with a smile. I could see Fiona was a little upset, but them’s the breaks.

“Good,” Patty said, “means we can do whatever we like. So what have you got for us to watch?”

“Don’t tell Dad I sneaked these out of the cupboard,” I said as I put some DVDs in front of them.

“No way,” Rachel whispered, but I heard footsteps, so hid them as Mum came in.

“So what are you going to do,” she said as she looked at us.

“We’ll get changed and then start to have fun,” I said, “come on girls – upstairs.”

“One thing,” Rachel said as we went into my bedroom, “let’s make this a tie-up free night. Just for once, let’s have fun while still been able to move and talk – agreed.”

“Radical thinking, Rach,” I said with a smile, “but yeah – that sounds good.”

I smiled as I took my clothes off, and pulled on a pair of dusky pink pyjamas. Rachel had a blue nightdress, and Patty a green t-shirt and shorts. Fiona had brought her teddy bear onesie – so when the four of us came into the front room, Mum and Dad just shook their heads and laughed.

“Give me a hand with the food, Louise,” Mum said, “and then your dad and I are staying out of the way until the morning.”

The three of us heard Mrs Cottrell say “You boys behave yourselves now,” and the front door closing, before we made our way downstairs.

We found Mark and Eric sitting in the front room, watching an episode of Daredevil on the television.

“I wondered where you three had got to,” Mark said as he looked up, “so what have you been doing?”

“We were just talking upstairs,” Frank said as we stood by the door. Both Mark and Eric looked at us now, as he said “and?”

“We were wondering if you’d allow us to go over to my house and surprise the girls," I said as I looked at him.

“Nope,” was his immediate reply as he stood up, and we heard the doorbell ring. “That will be the pizzas for dinner – come through to the dining room.”

As we walked through, it looked like our plans for the evening had been scuppered at the first step – but a few minutes later, Mark came in with the pizza boxes, putting them down on the table before he said “And how exactly would you surprise the girls?”

I grinned as I said “Well, here’s what I thought...”

“Well, ten out of ten for pluck,” Mark said as he looked at us, “but if you’re going to do this, then we need some rules of contact. I can’t leave Eric here on his own, so the two of us will come over to the house with you. Frank, take your mobile phone – I want you to text me when you are on your way back. I’ll also text you when I get word that Mum and Dad are on their way home as well – you need to come back then, no matter what.”

“Okay – but in the meantime?”

“Just don’t do anything stupid – and if your parents catch you, Freddie, own up.”

“Gotcha,” I said as I nodded.

“All right then – wash the dishes, dry up and put away, and then get together what you need.”

“There we go,” Mum said as she put the bottles of Coca Cola by the plastic cups, “got everything you need?”

“Thanks Mum,” I said with a smile.

“Right then – do not sit up for too long, and enjoy your evening,”

We watched as Mum went out and closed the door, before Patty said “Right then – what are we going to do first?”

“Let’s watch this first,” I said as I showed them the DVD of Pitch Perfect, “and then we can move on to Scream...”

I walked over and drew the curtains over the windows, before sitting down as the music started.

“Well, the lights are on upstairs and downstairs,” I said as we walked towards the house, “I guess the festivities have begun.”

Frank, Charlie and I were each carrying a plastic bag, into which we had put lengths of rope, scarves, rolls of tape and some handcuffs what Mark had somehow found. I had the key to those in my pocket, as we sneaked around the side of the house.

“Right,” Mark said as he looked at us, “from now on, you are on your own. Just remember – when I say Mum and Dad are coming home, the three of you need to come back as well.”

We nodded as I slowly unlocked the back door, and walked in, Charlie and Frank following before I closed the door and locked it behind us. The room was dark, but I didn’t turn the light on, as I motioned for them to wait there and then sneaked down the corridor.

I could see the light on under the door, so I put my ear to the door and listened.

“Oh come on,” I heard Patty say, “end this film – let’s get on to the really good stuff.”

Coming back, I whispered “they’re all in there watching films.”

“So what do we do,” Frank said as he looked at me.

“We wait – because sooner or later, one of them is going to need to go to the toilet. Let’s wait here...”

We were huddled down on the couch, watching the start of the film with the sound turned up – loud enough for us, but not so loud it was going to bring Mum and Dad down.

“What on earth is she doing,” Rachel said as she grabbed a handful of popcorn, and watched the blonde haired actress as she answered the telephone call.

“I honestly don’t see what’s so scary about THISSSSS!”

I laughed as Patty screamed when the person in the white mask appeared, before she grabbed some more popcorn and smiled sheepishly.

“See – told you it would be fun,” I said as I held a cushion, laughing along with the other girls.

It was about half an hour into the film that Fiona stood up and said “I need to go a place.”

“Want us to stop the film until you come back?”

“No you’re good,” she said as she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

“It’s Fiona,” I whispered as I looked out of the kitchen door, trying not to laugh at the brown one piece costume she had on with a bear’s face on the front. “Come with me Charlie. Frank you wait here.”

The two of us sneaked down the corridor and stood either side of the door as we heard the water running. As Fiona stepped out into the dark corridor, she turned and closed the door – which allowed me to grab her, wrapping my left arm round her and pinning her arms to her side as with my other hand I pushed a folded cloth in her mouth, and covered it with my free hand.

“HWTHFFHHHLLLLPPPPP!” she tried to call out, as I looked to the door, but nobody came out. She was a real wildcat as she tried to get herself free, and push the cloth out.

“Hi,” I whispered into her ear, “Surprise.”

She stopped struggling for a second, as she saw Charlie walk round and grab her legs, and we carried her up the stairs, Frank following as quietly as he could. We made our way into my room, as Fiona said “mgnnlufrthssfrdeehbsn.”

“Promises Promises – nice outfit, by the way,” I said as Frank produced a knotted strip of towel, and I took my hand away, allowing him to cleave gag Fiona while I took her hands behind her back, and used a pair of the handcuffs to secure then together. They hung on her wrists as she tried to pull them apart, with no luck.

“Sit down,” I said as Charlie brought my desk chair over, Fiona nodding as sat and allowed me to use some rope to tie her waist to the chair back, as well as her stomach, while Charlie knelt down and tied her ankles together and to the chair leg. Frank took a roll of the special tape we use, and wrapped it round her head, Fiona watching us the whole time.

“Now,” I said as I looked at her, “You just stay here – we’re going to bring the others up, one by one, so have fun.”

“Ulllnfrgtwwsfthss,” Fiona said as she started to struggle, looking at us the whole time.

“Is it safe leaving her on her own up here?”

“Don’t worry – she can’t get out of those cuffs, and we need to get down before they realise she hasn’t come back,” I said, so we headed back down the stairs as quietly as we could, hoping Fiona was going to play along...

“Where do you think Fiona’s got to?”

I looked over at Rachel and Patty, and said “I wouldn’t worry – she probably just went to get a OHMYGODLOOK!!”

The other two screamed as the masked figure appeared behind the boy, our minds completely taken off wherever Fiona had got to.

A few minutes later, Rachel stood up. “My turn – if I see her, I’ll chase her back.”

“Hurry up – I think the really good bit is coming.”


“It’s Rachel,” Charlie said with a grin as he looked at me, “allow me.”

“All yours,” I said quietly as she went into the bathroom. He sneaked towards the door, and waited for a moment with the cloth in his hand until he heard the water running.

As she came out, Charlie grabbed her, pushing the cloth into her mouth before she had a chance to call for help. I watched her struggle under his grip, before he leaned over and whispered something into her ear.

I swear, I have never seen anyone melt so quickly as Rachel, as she nodded and Charlie motioned to both of us. I handed him a knotted strip of towel, and he pulled it into her mouth and around her head before cuffing her wrists behind her back.

“Let’s get her upstairs,” I said.

“We can out her with Fiona, make it easier to watch them both.

“Not a good idea,” Frank whispered, “we haven’t covered their hands or taped their fingers. I bet they could get free, even with cuffs.”

“All right – we use Louise’s room,” I said as we walked upstairs, and went into her bedroom. I pulled the chair away from her desk, and soon little Rachel was sitting there, looking at us as Charlie started to bind her ankles.

“I think we can take it from here,” I said as I looked at Frank, “you go downstairs, give us a signal if one of them leaves the room.”

“I’ll check Fiona before I go down, but I need the toilet first,” Frank said as he left us, closing the door behind himself.


“Patty, something’s not quite right here?”

“I know,” Patty said as she grabbed another handful of popcorn, “none of them are obeying the rules.”

“That’s not what I mean Doofus,” I said as I punched her, “I meant Fiona and Rachel. Where are they?”

“Toilet?”

“For this long – something’s going on,” I said as I stood up, “come on.”

“What?”

“Leave the film running – I have a feeling we’re not the only ones in the house, and I’m not talking about Mum and Dad.”

Leaving the front room, we closed the door behind ourselves and walked down to the kitchen. Everything looked all right, but I then heard a noise in the downstairs toilet. Putting my finger to my lips, I motioned to Patty to join me by the door, as we both looked through the crack.

I think you can imagine my surprise – well, nor surprise, amusement when I saw Frank Cottrell come out, and head to the stairs.

“I knew it,” I said quietly, “the boys are here?”

“Boys, plural?”

“Come on –can you imagine Frank being here on his own?”

“You have something there,” Patty whispered, “so what now?”

“Now – let’s see where he goes,” I said as we sneaked along the corridor, following Frank as he walked up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, we watched as Frank passed Freddie's door, and then heard him say “Now what have we got here.” He walked in, and we walked quickly behind him to see him standing in front of Fiona, a pair of handcuffs round her left wrists, as she leaned down to try and untie her ankles.

“Well now, I guess I’ll have to really make sure you can’t get away,” we heard Frank say – which we took as our cue to walk in, grabbing Frank by the arms as I said “On the other hand, you could tell us what’s going on.”

“Turrtmm,” Fiona said as she finished untying her legs, and then walked over to close the door before she looked at us.

“Sorry – we were watching a film,” I said as Patty held Frank. “Now then, young Master Cottrell, why don’t you tell us what’s going on here?”

Frank just looked at the three of us, not saying a word.

“Come on Frank – if you’re here, Charlie and Freddie must be here with you. Where are they?”

Frank stayed silent, blushing redder than a Riding Hood.

“Oh they’re here all right,” Patty said. “Do you see Rachel in here? Where do you keep ropes, Louise?”

“Under the bed, why?”

“Because,” she said as she reached under and pulled out a bag, “we’re going to make sure Frank stays here, and capture the boys ourselves.”

“Oh yeah,” Fiona finally said as she spat the cloth out.

“I’m not worried – they’ll get you before you know it.”

“Good – thanks for confirming they are here,” Patty said as she took a length of rope out, “now lie down, hands behind your back, or we start the tickle torture...”


“There we go,” I said as I stood back, “all snug and cosy.”

“Hrddhrrr,” Rachel said as she struggled in the chair. Like Fiona, we had bound her ankles to the front leg, and tied her legs together, folding the skirt of her nightdress up and then back once they were secured. One of my belts had been used to secure her to the chair back. “Whtruflkssgnnss?”

“Hopefully, we’ll have all four of you before they find out,” I said as Charlie patted our captive’s head. The band of white tape round her head was helping to keep her even more silent.

“Two down, two to go. Where’s Frank?”

“He’ll be fine – come on, let’s leave her here.”

I watched as Charlie looked round the room, and then grabbed a set of keys.

“What do you want with them?”

“Making sure she can’t get out if she gets free,” Charlie said as we went out, and he locked her bedroom door.

“Okay then – you go and check on Fiona, and I’ll head down and join Frank.”

“Gotcha,” Charlie whispered as I headed down the staircase. The film was still going, but I couldn’t hear them, probably because they were so scared. More to the point, where was Freddie? He was supposed to have been by the bathroom door!

Shaking my head, I went back to the kitchen and kept watch.



“There – doesn’t that look better?”

Fiona nodded as she pulled the rope between Frank’s legs, cinching the binding she was applying below his knees. He already had his wrists tied together behind his back, and ropes around his arms and chest, while the white tape was now wrapped around his head, keeping the towel strip and sponge in place.

“Now then,” I said as I pulled his ankles back, holding them in place as Fiona tied them to his chest ropes, “since you won’t tell us, we’ll just have to...”

I stopped as I heard footsteps outside the door, and nodded to Fiona and Patty, who stood either side, the three of us waiting.

“Now then, young Fiona,” Charlie said as he came in, “how are you... Ah. Oh dear.”

“That,” Patty said as she closed the door, “is a very good thing to say, young Charles. Now, are you going to do what we tell you to do, or do we have to make things difficult?”

I looked up at Charlie as he took in the scene, and then said “It’s a fair cop,”

“Hands behind your back, there’s a good little captive,” Fiona said, as she cuffed his wrists together behind his back, and then wrapped the rope around his waist to keep them in place.

“Now then,” I said as Patty wrapped rope around his arms and chest. “Where are Rachel and Freddie?”

“Who?”

“Very funny,” Patty said as she pulled the rope tight. “Where are they?”

“I don’t know,” Charlie said as he smiled at all of us. “Now, why don’t we...”

“Oh no,” Fiona said as she pushed the sponge ball into his mouth, and then peeled the end of the roll of tape free, “you can stay real quiet. I know how persuasive you can be, given half a chance.”

“Hmmm?”

“Yes you,” Patty said as they helped him to lie down, and then tied his ankles and legs, before hogtying him.


“Now then, where do you think Freddie is,” I said as I looked at the other two.


“Where the heck is Frank,” I thought as I looked at the door. “More to the point, surely one of them would need the toilet by now...”

Looking at the door again, I decided to take a look, see what was keeping them so engrossed. I listened once more, and then slowly opened the door – only to find the room empty, the film starting again.

I stood there for a moment, looking at the couch, the bowl of popcorn on the table in front of it, and slowly shook my head. “Oh sis, sis, sis – you are the cunning one, aren’t you,” I said to myself, but then closed the door and looked to the staircase.

Walking up, I put my ear to the closed door of Louise’s room, and then my own, before I walked over to the linen closet and walked in, closing the door behind me.

“So what are we going to do now? We’ve got two of them – just Freddie to go.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said as I looked at Patty, “But we can’t all go and look for him – not so much because of Frank, but because of him.”

I looked at Charlie, who was watching all three of us, with what I could swear was a grin.

“True – but I’ve got an idea. Have they finished down there yet?”

“Finished down – oh yeah, they finished last week. I just haven’t been down yet.”

“Well, here’s the plan,” Patty said. “Fiona stays here and keeps an eye on Frank – we’ll unite Charlie’s legs, and take him down to the basement. We’ll make sure he’s secure down there, turn on the television...”

“The television? He really did turn it into a den then?”

“Yeah – nice comfy chairs down there too. Makes me wonder why we didn’t use that instead... Anyway, that way they can’t free each other. We find Freddie, release Rachel, triumph complete.”

“Okay – I don’t see a problem with that,” I said as I untied Charlie’s legs, helping him to stand up as Patty looked outside.

“Coast is clear – come on.”

I watched as Louise and Patty walked out of the room, holding Charlie between them, and then felt for the water pistol in my pocket. Smiling, I sneaked out and went into the room, in time to hear Fiona say “so what are we going to do with you, Hmm?”

Frank just shook his head, his eyes fixed on me in the door as she said “Oh come on – I’ve been watching that film all night, but it’s a film. No way anybody would walk in and...”

Which was the moment she felt the water on my back, and turned to see me standing there, saying “Surrender, Fiona – for you, the game is over.”

If she was going to spoil things, that was the moment – one word from her and it was all over. She looked at me for a few moments, and then raised her hands as I closed the door.

“Right then – you can start by untying Frank there, and then we’re going to make sure you really cannot get free.”

Fiona nodded as she untied Frank, removing his gag as well as he looked at her, and then at me.

“Sorry Freddie – they jumped me and untied Fiona.”

“No problem – where’s Charlie?”

“They said something about the cellar...”

“Oh – not a bad idea actually, but first we need to take care of you,” I said as I looked in our supply box, and got out two sponges. “So let’s do this right – you know what to do Fiona, and Frank can take care of the preliminaries for you.”

Nodding, she held the sponges while Frank wrapped silver tape round her fists, and then pulled a pair of socks over them, before taping them to her arms and crossing her wrists behind her back.

I smiled as I watched Frank wrap the rope around her wrists, holding them tightly together, while I folded a clean cloth and held it in front of her mouth. “Open wide – and don’t worry, we’ll bring Rachel to you in a minute.”

Fiona nodded as I pushed the cloth into her mouth, and then pulled the knotted strip of towelling between her lips, while Frank tied the rope around her waist, and then around her arms and tummy.

She tried not to giggle as we made her sit down – and then we heard footsteps in the corridor. Frank clamped his hand over her mouth as I whispered “not a word” and stood by the door.

You see, I knew the footsteps – it was Dad, and he must have been walking to the toilet. I knew if Fiona called out, the game would be over – but we would be in real trouble.

So I held my breath and watched we heard the toilet flush, and then heard Dad walk back. He stopped for a moment outside the door, and then went on, until we heard the bedroom door close.

We all breathed a sigh of relief as Fiona was helped to lie face down on the bed, Frank binding her ankles and legs while I wrapped the tape around her mouth and head, and then tied a folded scarf over that while her ankles were tied to the tummy ropes.

“Right – she’s not going anywhere,” Freddie said quietly, “and we still have to capture the other girls.”

“If they have Charlie, he has the keys to Rachel’s room.”

“And we need those keys,” I said as I handed Frank another water pistol,” this needs careful thought.”

“Nice,” Patty said as we walked Charlie down the stairs to the cellar, “and you were going to tell us about this when?”

“Tomorrow – I shouldn’t really be down here at all,” I said as I turned on the light. Charlie’s eyes widened as he saw the pool table, television and comfy chairs on the carpeted floor.

“Put him on there,” I said as I pointed to the couch, and we frog marched Charlie over, making him lie down before I and Patty re-tied his ankles and legs, and I secured his ankles to the leg of the couch with another length of rope.

“So how do we stop him from raising the alarm?”

I turned the television on, Charlie nodding as I said “you’re going to be a good boy and stay here, aren’t you?”

He nodded as I said “so, Rachel – where is she?”

“Ncmmnt.”

“All right then – Patty – you head upstairs and make sure Fiona’s all right with Frank. I’ll keep an eye on Charlie here – I don’t trust him.”

“Got it,” Patty said as she made her way back up the stairs...

“Are you sure she’s going to be all right in that spare bedroom?”

“She’ll be fine,” I whispered to Frank as I locked that door, “we have other problems to think about. We need to think about how to get the keys from...”

I stopped as I heard footsteps at the bottom of the stairs, and signalled to Frank we needed to get back to my room. We barely made it back in time before the footsteps came towards the door, and I stood by the wall as the door opened.

“Fiona – you still all right in here?”

I smiled as Patty came in, and then saw Frank standing in front of the bed, the water pistol pointing at her.

“Oh sugar,” she said quietly, before she smiled and raised her hands. “You Gotmmmgg,” she said, her voice muffled as I pushed a folded scarf into her mouth, and then pulled her wrists behind her back, using some cord to secure her wrists together as Frank picked up a fresh strip of towel and tied a knot in the middle of it.

“Night falls, I’m cast beneath her spell, Daylight come, our heaven turned to hell...”

We all froze as I heard Mom coming up the stairs, Frank looking at me in blind panic. I clamped my hand tightly over Patty’s mouth – so tightly I could feel her short gasps on my palm – and dragged her to the walk-in closet, Frank following and closing the door on us as I held Patty tightly against me.

I heard Mom walk into the room, looking round as she said “I thought I told the girls to stay out of Freddie’s room.” Through the thin slits in the door, I watched as she walked round, and then stood in front of the door.

I could feel Patty’s hot breath on my hand, as I said several very hurried and silent prayers. We were completely in her hands now – one kick, one muffled scream, even trying to talk, and I knew Mom would find us and it would be game over. Not to mention the grounding of a lifetime.

“Gail? What’s keeping you?”

“The girls have been in Freddie’s room – didn’t we tell them not to?”

“Ah, let it go – they’re just having fun, and they haven’t disturbed us. Come on – the film’s just starting.”

I watched, Patty still breathing heavily into my hand as Mom looked round the room, turning off the lights and then closing the door. We stayed where we were, hearing Mom talking to someone, and then the footsteps as they headed off to Mom and Dad’s room.

Eventually, I took my cell phone from my pocket and turned the torch on, watching as Frank opened the door and we stepped out.

As I took my hand away, Patty pushed the cloth out, took several deep breaths and said “that was close – if I hadn’t been gagged, I would have called out, and you would have been so busted.”

“Yeah – thanks for that,” Frank whispered as I picked up the cloth, “now open wide.”

Patty nodded as I pushed the cloth in and this time completed the gag, while Frank tied her wrists to her back with rope around her waist, and then her stomach and her shoulders.

Five minutes later, young Patty was hogtied on my bed, as I whispered “Right – now to capture Louise and free Charlie. Come on...”

“Now where has she got to,” I said as I looked at Charlie. “You stay there.”

“Funssst,” he mumbled as I slowly walked back up the stairs, and then the main staircase, wondering where Patty had got to. As I reached the top of the stairs, however, I saw Mum coming out of Freddie’s room, and then looking at me.

“All right, Louise,” she said as she folded her arms, “did you girls play any tie-up games in there?”

“Errr – sorry Mum,” I said quickly. “I forgot.”

“All right – I have cleared the things away, and turned the light off, but next time, ask Freddie if you can use his room for your games BEFORE he leaves the house?”

“Yes, Mum,” I said as I looked at my mother.

“So where are the others?”

“They’re... A little tied up,” I said with a smile, just relieved she hadn’t figured out the boys were here.

Mum just looked at me, and then shook her head as she said “all right, just be careful,” before she went back to her room.

As soon as the door was closed, I tried the door to my room – only to find it locked. So I had to go back and get the spare key from the kitchen, and come back up to unlock the door. Opening it, I slipped in and closed the door.

“Wlltssbbrttm!”

I slowly turned to see Rachel sitting in a chair, looking at me over the band of tape that covered the lower part of her head, and indicating her hands behind her back.

“Come on...”

As soon as I heard that, I left the room, locked the door and hid in the bathroom, trying not to be heard as I watched - Frank and Freddie emerge from his room? They must have been in there when Mum went in – but how the hell did they get away with not being seen?

I waited as they crept downstairs, and then went to my room, opening the door and going on. I didn’t dare turn the light on, in case I disturbed Mum and Dad again, but I could see someone bound and gagged properly on his bed. The clothes told me who it was, so I knew where Patty was – but Fiona?

Suddenly, I heard footsteps outside, so I grabbed a water pistol from Freddie’s toy trunk and waited by the door.

“Any sign of her?”

I looked at Frank as he came out of the kitchen, slowly shaking his head, and wondered how once again she had managed to give us the slip.

“Where could she have gone? And Charlie for that matter?”

“I don’t know,” I said, “unless...”

“Freddie?”

“Frank, we’re going to need another gun. Can you quickly go and get it from my toy box? I’ll keep looking for them while you do that?”

Frank nodded as he headed up the staircase, and I looked in the downstairs rooms again.

“Oh you did, didn’t you,” I said as I went to the cellar door and started to walk slowly down the stairs, my gun pointing forwards. I smiled as I saw Charlie sitting there, watching the television as he twisted round.

“So my sister got the better of you,” I said as I came down, Charlie turning his head and looking at me over his gag.

“Is she in here?”

He shook his head as I looked at the cuffs around his wrists. “Damn – I need to get the keys from my room. Hang in there...”

The door to my room opened and closed, and I saw one of the boys using a mobile phone as a torch, Patty looking at him as he made his way to the toybox. He didn’t hear me as I crept up behind him, pushed the barrel of the toy gun against his back, and said “Hello Frank – hands in the air please.”

“Gshheee,” Patty giggled as Frank raised his hands.

“Now, put a cloth in your mouth and gag yourself in the appropriate manner.”

Nodding, Frank picked up a clean hankie and put it in his mouth, before he tied a knot in a towelling strip and used it as a cleave gag. Finally, he took a roll of white tape and wrapped it tightly round his head.

“Good boy,” I said to Frank with a smile. Looking at Patty, I said “I need to take him to my room, or we all have our gooses cooked. You all right like that for a while?”

Patty nodded as she wriggled round, and I looked out of the bedroom door. There was no sign of anyone, so I walked Frank out, unlocked the door to my room and brought him in.

“Gtmmfrrlusse,” Rachel said as I closed and locked the door, and said “sorry Rach – things to do.” Grabbing some rope, I pulled Frank’s hands behind his back and crossed his wrists, securing them tightly together with rope and then wrapping the rope around his waist.

I then tied his arms tightly to his side, Rachel watching the whole time as she struggled in the chair. “Gtmmtfthss,” she called to as I tied the ropes off.

“Sorry Rachel – I will come back and untie you, I promise, but I need to do this first,” I whispered as I unlocked the door, checked the coast was clear, and marched Frank back to Freddie’s room, locking my door behind me.

“Sit down,” I whispered as I closed the door, and waited until he was sitting before I tied his ankles together – securing them just in time to hear the soft footsteps...

I could not believe what was going on as I made my way up the stairs. Louise was still loose, and they captured Charlie? Still, at least I knew where he was, and once I met up with Frank.

Smiling, I opened the door to my room and slipped in, closing the door as I said “Frank? Have you found the gun yet? I found Charlie and I need the keys...”

Turning round, I say Patty still hogtied on the bed – and then I saw Frank sitting on the floor, looking at me over his tape gag, his arms bound and his ankles lashed together.

“Ah,” I said, realising what had happened before I felt the gun at my back, and heard Louise saying “Surrender, bro – hands in the air.”

“Aw damn,” I said as I slowly raised my hands, and heard Louise giggle before she said “my room – and not a sound.”

We slipped out of my room and back to hers, me watching as she unlocked her door – and where she had a spare key was a story for another day – and took me inside.

“Hgrrt – nw?”

“Not yet, Rach,” Louise whispered as she closed the door, and grabbed some rope, “I need to get him secured first.”

For some reason, Rachel seemed fed up, as she rolled her eyes and watched as Louise pulled my hands behind my back and started to bind them together.

“We win,” she giggled as the rope went between my wrists, “First I caught Charlie, then I caught Frank, and now I have you. What was the idea – prove you could capture all of us?”

“Something like that” I said, “but you haven’t won yet. We’ll get free and capture you, and then all four of you will be our hostages.”

“Promises, promises,” she said as she tied the rope round my waist, fixing my wrists to my back. “You were sneaky, but we were sneakier.” My arms were soon tied to my sides, before Louise made me sit down, and tied my ankles together. Once she had his legs secured, she made my lie on my stomach and hogtied me.

“What – no snappy comeback,” I said as I held the folded cloth in front of Freddie’s mouth.

“I will get my revengenuummm,” he said as I stuffed the cloth in, cleave gagged and then tape gagged him before I stood up.

“So – you here, Frank in your room, Charlie downstairs – we win!”

I then knelt next to Rachel and looked at her – and then looked at her again.

“Whtluuss? Nteemmm.”

“Hang on,” I said as I stood up, “The boys are all tied and gagged, so are you, so is Patty. I presume Fiona is somewhere else as well – the spare bedroom? Anyway, I think this triumph needs to be complete.”

I wondered what my sweet sister was thinking of, as she looked at Rachel and said “I’m really sorry, Rachel, but you’ll need to stay there just a little while longer. I need to bring Charlie up to join these two in their humiliation.”

“Hfrthlffff – ltmmggg.”

“I’m really sorry,” Louise said as she went out, locking the door behind herself. Rachel looked at me, with eyes alight with fire, and I just shook my head.

IT was over, and we had lost. We were probably going to get a rocketing from all the parents, and Mom and Dad would be mad as hell with me. But one thing was still true – it had been fantastic fun!

I made my way down the stairs, and then turned the television off before I went to the cellar door. One more trip up, and then I could untie the girls, and we could lord it over all three of them.

“Sorry, Charlie,” I said as I came down the stairs, “we have Frank and Freddie as well now. Game over, you...”

I stood and looked at the empty couch, wondering where Charlie had got to, before I felt the toy gun against my back, and I slowly raised my hands...

“Aw no,” I whispered as I felt Charlie pull my hands behind my back, and then the rope on my wrists as he tied them together.

“You’re not going to get away with this," I said as he wrapped the rope around and between them, “The other girls are guarding Frank and Freddie, and they’ll come looking for me soon. They can’t escape, and neither can you. Give up now, untie my hands, and we won’t be too hard on you.”

There was no reply, and as I saw him pass the rope around my waist and force my hands against my back, I realised I had made a big mistake. I should have untied the girls – especially Rachel, who probably is thinking of many new ways to torture me right now.

As I felt Charlie tie off the rope, I said “Well, what do you say?”

Then he jumped in front of me, and I saw he had his hands free, the cuffs hanging from one wrist – and what was worse, he still had the gag on his mouth. Even worser, he didn’t have a toy gun in his hand – he had a plastic rod, which he waved round and then poked me with.

“Oh god – I feel for the oldest trick in the book,” I said with a gasp, feeling very embarrassed now as Charlie held a large cloth in front of my mouth. Nodding, I opened my mouth and allowed him to push it in, before he took a strip of towel, tied a knot in it, and pushed the knot in my mouth, hopping behind me as he tied the strip round my head.

My humiliation – was complete.

“Nwwwht,” I mumbled as he hopped back round, then bent over and untied his legs, before he showed me a spare handcuff key and removed the cuffs from his other wrist. He must have been given it by Freddie, and then got his arms free before I came down. Another thing to thank my brother for.

Taking me by the arm, he led me up the cellar stairs, all the time his gag in place, before he turned the lights off and slowly opened the door. The hallway was empty, so he took me out and we started to walk to the staircase – only to stop as we heard nearby footsteps at the top.

Charlie quickly pulled me into the front room, holding me with his hand clamped tightly over my gagged mouth, his breath coming in short nasal gasps as he watched through the crack in the open door.

I could tell how afraid he was, as I saw Dad walking to the toilet and going in, and then Charlie pulled me further in. His hand over my mouth was actually trembling – and I was as well. I mean, I could have called out and Dad would still have heard my muffled voice, and that would have been it – game over.

I wasn’t that worried about myself however, as I heard Dad come out and walk to the kitchen – it was the other boys, and how they’d feel left like that...

His hand was really pressing down now as we heard the fridge door open and close, and then his footsteps as he walked past the door again and up the stairs. I was actually starting to sweat as we heard a door open and close, before Charlie took his hand away and led me up the stairs.

He had also taken the key to my room from me, so I could only blush as he unlocked the door, opened it and pushed me in, closing and locking the door before he turned round to see Freddie bound and gagged.

I could tell he was smiling, however, as he saw Rachel there.

“Hvngffn?”

They all giggled as they heard him before he realised his mistake and took off his own gag. “That’s better – sorry I took so long, but I was watching my favourite program, and then – well, then Louise showed up.” He helped me to sit on the bed before he said “You want to be untied?”

“Hys,” Freddie said as I looked at him.

I had no idea how he had done it, but he did it – and I never should have doubted Charlie, as he untied me and removed my gag.

“Thanks,” I said quietly, “can you excuse me for a few minutes? I need to go and free frank, and then bring the other two girls in here.”

“Gotcha,” Charlie whispered as I went out, and walked quietly back to my room, closing the door and using my phone as a torch again.

“Whthppnnd,” Frank said as I looked at him, and then started to remove the ropes.

“Charlie got free somehow,” I said as Frank sat up and removed his gag, and I released Patty from her hogtie before I untied her legs. “Listen – can you escort Patty to Louise’s room? I need to collect Fiona.”

“Gotcha,” Frank said as he opened the door, looked out and then led Patty to the other bedroom. I waited until he had gone in, and then let myself into the spare room.

Fiona was wriggling round, her ankles tied the foot of the spare bed, and almost screamed when she saw me there.

“Hush – I bring news,” I said as I walked over and started to untie her legs.

“Whtnwsss?”

“We won,” I said with a smile as I led her back to Louise’s room...

As my darling brother walked Fiona in, and closed the door behind them, my heart really sank.

“So what are we going to do with them,” Charlie said quietly as Frank took his phone out and looked at it.

“Whatever it is, decide fast,” he said quietly, “That’s Mark giving me a thirty minute warning.”

“Plenty of time – we can be back at your place in a minute,” Charlie said. “I think we should let them sleep tied up – properly.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that – especially when the started by untying my arms. Charlie and Freddie then brought my hands in front of me, as Frank held out two sponges – and then I understood.

I watched as he taped over my fists, and then covered them with socks before they boys taped them to my arms. As Charlie and Freddie re-tied my wrists, and then passed the rope around my waist, I realised all of us were going to be like this, and said “Sreee” as I realised they were tying the rope above and below my chest. It was meant o be our mums or the older girls who did this, but none of us were in a position to complain.

Normally, I wouldn’t have minded either – but as the two boys passed some rope under my arms and tightened the bands, I suddenly felt funny – funny peculiar, funny strange, as the bands pressed on my chest. It was annoying as I wriggled round, watching them bind my ankles and knees, but at the same time, it was actually nice.

And annoying.

And nice.

And annoying, as Charlie wrapped the white tape round my head.

“Tssstrrngg,” I mumbled as he looked at me, and then said “Freddie, got any duct tape?”

I shook my head, given my hair was uncovered, but Freddie took a roll from our box and handed it over, Charlie smiling as he wound it tightly round my head, taking care not to go over the edge of the white tape. As it got tighter and tighter, I had to admit it felt really nice, and once he had tied a folded black scarf over it, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do more than mumble.

I watched as they untied Patty, making her stand as they untied her arms and started to cover her hands as well. While they did that, Frank helped me to hop over to the bed – and those ropes rubbed on me even more, making me feel very strange as I lay down, and watched him tie my ankles to the foot of the bed.

A few minutes later, Patty was lying in her sleeping bag, wriggling and almost giggling under the tight gag, while they took care of adding the extra layer of gag to Fiona, and then re-tying her legs as she lay in her sleeping bag. As she looked at me, she raised an eyebrow as she wriggled, and I could tell she was as confused as I was about how she felt.

Charlie then untied Rachel from the chair, who looked at all of us and shook her head before she ran to the toilet – but she returned a few minutes later, and soon she was as secure as we were, lying on her side in the sleeping bag and looking at us.

“Two minutes,” I heard Frank say, “we’d better get going.”

“Gotcha,” Freddie said as he suddenly knelt down and kissed Fiona on her forehead, and Charlie did the same to Rachel – and Frank did the same to me! I wriggled and felt the ropes rubbing again, as Patty rolled her eyes and shook her head.

“Sleep tight girls,” Charlie said as he turned the light off, and left us there – trying to get to sleep and not make a sound, as those ropes irritated the hell out of me...

As we headed out of the back door, and I locked it, we heard Mark hiss “Where have you been? We don’t have much time!”

“Sorry – things to do,” Frank said as we sprinted back to the farmhouse, Eric watching us as we sprinted up the stairs and got ready for bed. We barely had time to get into our sleeping bags before he said “Mum and Dad are back,” the headlights sweeping across the room as we settled in.

A few minutes later, we heard Frank’s parents talking quietly to Mark outside, and then the lights went out, as I said “Well done guys – we actually did it!”

“Yeah – time to sleep now,” Charlie said, “we have work to do in the morning.”

“What sort of...” I never got an answer, as we fell quickly asleep.

The next thing I knew was Charlie gently shaking me, and as I opened my eyes I saw the sunlight starting to appear.

“Whattimeisit,” I mumbled.

“Quarter to five,” Charlie said quietly, “get dressed – we need to get to your place and make sure the girls can free themselves.”

“Fair point,” I said as I pulled some clothes on, and we went downstairs, taking care not to wake anyone as we slipped out of the farmhouse and back to my place.

Everything was quiet as I unlocked the back door and we came in, sneaking up the stairs and back into Louise’s room. All four of them were asleep, dreaming of something by the noises they were making, as I untied the scarf from Louise’s mouth, and then started to remove the tape.

I could feel something moving my head, and as I opened my eyes I was surprised to see Freddie peeling the tape away, while Charlie was unzipping Patty’s sleeping bag.

“Whtsgngng,” she mumbled as she peered at Freddie, who had uncovered my cleave gag, and then looked at both of us.

“Time to practice your escape skills – hope you enjoyed the evening,” Freddie said as the two boys sneaked out of the room, leaving us looking at each other.

Eventually, Patty started to try to sit herself up, but I could hear her moan softly, and it took several attempts for her to get into a seated position, and then push herself up onto her feet. I could see why the boys had sneaked back to do this now, to give is a chance to get free before my parents woke up.

Not that it meant I wasn’t going to get my revenge, but I gave them credit for that, as I worked my jaw and pushed the cloth out, the knotted scarf falling round my neck.

“Okay Patty,” I whispered, “can you come over and sit down with your back to me.”

She nodded and jumped over, turning and then sitting down as I wriggled over – only to pause as those ropes rubbed on me again, and I wondered what was happening...

Eventually, however, I started to pick at the rope around Patty’s wrists, trying to undo them as quickly as possible. In theory, it should only have taken me a few minutes – but the way those ropes were making me feel meant I had to stop several times, Patty looking over her shoulder and raising an eyebrow as I lay there panting.

I wondered if she knew what was going on – she had the same binding as me, after all – but pi just tried to shake off the funny way I was feeling and went back to work.

It took thirty minutes, but eventually I managed to loosen it enough for Patty to shake her hands free. She turned to look at me, said “fnkuuu” and then pushed the toher ropes around her upper body, breathing a sigh of relief through her nose before she looked at me.

“Let me see your right arm,” I said, and as Patty leaned over I picked at the tape around the top of the sock, peeling it off and then using my teeth to pull the sock off her arm. I then picked away at the tape, so that once it was away she could drop the sponge and then start to uncover her left hand.

“Fantastic,” I said as she shook her hands and looked at me, “can you untie me now, and we can free the others?”

I looked at Rachel and Fiona, who were watching us over their gags, while Patty nodded and I rolled over so she could see the ropes. I waited for a few minutes for her to start.

And then a minute more.

“Patty,” I said as I rolled over onto my side, “what do youfnnkkuewttngfr?”

I was taken completely by surprise as she pushed the cloth back into my mouth, and then the knotted towelling strip, tightening it around my head before she picked up the roll of white tape lying on the floor and wrapped it round my head again – and then the duct tape keeping it over the white band.

“Whtruudnng,” I mumbled as I looked at Patty, who just said “trstmm” as she put the blanket back over me. I wriggled round, those ropes rubbing even more, as I watched her look round and take the handcuffs from the top of the drawers.

She hoped back to her sleeping bag, sitting herself down and zipping it up from the inside, before I heard the click of the handcuffs closing and she said “Gndhhtll.” Well, to say I was miffed was putting it mildly, as I moved round, trying to get comfortable and noticing the way those ropes were making me feel, rubbing on my chest as my eyes slowly closed.

“Good morning sleepy head.”

I opened my eyes to see Mum standing over me, smiling as she removed the blanket and saw how I was tied. “I thought you were going to have a rope free night?”

“Chnchfpln,” Patty said as she looked at me from her sleeping bag, Rachel and Fiona nodding in agreement. I watched as Mum walked over and unzipped Fiona, looking at her before she said “so how did you all end up like this?”

I tried not to scream in frustration as she released Rachel from the bag, both of them struggling to sit up as she knelt by Patty and unzipped her bag.

“Oh I get it now,” she said as Patty sat up, her wrists cuffed behind her, “you tied them up and then took care of yourself?”

Patty nodded as I looked at the clock, and saw it was just before nine o’clock.

“Okay then,” Mum said as she picked up the key to the handcuffs from the table, and released Patty’s wrists, “I guess that also explains the extra ropes. Well, you get yourselves untied – I’ll start to sort some breakfast out.”

“Fnksmm,” I mumbled as Patty rubbed her wrists, and then immediately started to untie me. I was so glad when those double ropes came off – and yet I was also a little disappointed. Perhaps next time...

Eventually, she managed to unwrap my hands, and I started to remove the tape and gag from my mouth as I ungagged myself, and Patty removed her own gag.

“Patty, what the...”

“Later,” she said as we untied our legs, and then went to help Rachel and Fiona. They had been watching Patty the whole time, and kept watching as we untied them and removed their gags as well.

“all right, Patricia Pickering,” Rachel said as she found her glasses and put them on, handing Patty’s to her, “as upset as I am with Louise for last night, what the hell were you playing at earlier?”

“I had to,” Patty said quietly as we looked at our wrists, “if your mum had found all four of us as we were left by the boys, Louise, she’d ask who did it, and we’d have had to tell her. It was only when Lou released my arms that I realised that, so I re-gagged her and cuffed myself in the sleeping bag.”

“Oh – I get it now,” Fiona said. “That way, she thought we decided to sleep this way after all, and you volunteered to do it.”

“That’s right,” Patty said, “and I couldn’t explain because of the gag. This way, the boys don’t get the blame – but I want to get them back so badly for this!”

“All right – and I guess I deserve what you did for blowing last night,” I said quietly, “I’m sorry Rachel and Fiona. I should have untied you both, but I was so damned sure Charlie could not get free...”

“All forgiven and forgotten,” Rachel said as we hugged each other, “now how about we get ready and eat – I’m starving!”

“There you are,” Mum said as we came in, “who wants bacon and eggs?”

“Please Mum,” I said as we sat down.

“So did you all enjoy yourselves last night?”

“OH YES,” we all shouted.

“Well, can I say one thing?”

“Yes, Mum?”

“If you’re going to sleep like that – and I know you’ve all done it for one reason or another – then at least tell me.”

“Sorry mum,” I said as I drank some orange juice, “it was after I saw you last night and we came to my room that we decided to do it.”

“Well, so long as you do so in the future,” Mum said as she went to the stove.

Once we had all eaten, we cleaned ourselves up and got changed, before we gathered in the front room. We were all wearing jeans, jumpers and Ugg boots.

“All right,” Rachel said, “Given I spent almost the entire night locked in your room, Louise, what else happened after I was snatched?”

“Well, you weren’t first – I was,” Fiona said. “The boys left me tied and handcuffed in Freddie’s room, but I saw a key for the handcuffs on the chest of drawers, managed to move my chair and start to free myself – I guess you’d been snatched by then Rachel.”

Between us, over the next thirty minutes or so we managed to piece together what happened to all of us – and one thought was growing in my mind.

Well two actually. Patty voiced the first. “Gotta admit, it was a lot more fun than watching films all night – they did well on that count.”

“True,” I said, “but...”

This, of course, is when the phone rang. I went out, picked up the handset and said “hello, Hobson house?”

As we all sat round the breakfast table, we were looking at each other, wondering just how we had managed to succeed the previous night despite everything. We didn’t dare say a word – with their Mom and Pop taking as well, the Cottrell boys just looked at me and Charlie.

Eventually, Mr Cottrell stood up and said “Mark, Eric, come and give me a hand in the top field. Frank, you stay with Charlie and Freddie – but you do your share of the chores this afternoon.”

“Thanks Dad,” Frank said as they put on their work boots, and the three of us, clad in sweatshirts and jeans, went back up to Frank’s room to put the sleeping bags and things away.

“That was amazing last night,” Frank said as we cleared the last of the things away, “I still can’t believe we did it – and we won. Do you think they’re all right?”

“They should be,” I said, “Charlie and I sneaked over this morning and made sure Patty and Lou could free each other.”

“When?”

“Just before five,” Charlie said. “They should all be up and about by now anyway – and given we haven’t heard an irate phone call from your parents Freddie, I imagine everything is all right.”

“Might be wise to check though,” I said as I took out my cell phone and dialled the home number. I watched the other two before I heard Louise say “hello, Hobson house?”

“Louise, it’s Freddie – how are things over there?”

“We’re good – and thanks for last night, all of you.”

“So Mom and Dad don’t know?”

“No, we covered for you – but you owe me Freddie. All three of you owe us.”

“Oh come on – you just said you enjoyed it!”

“And we did...”

“Well, thanks for not squealing on us, and for playing along. You’re the best, Lou.”

“Good – I’ll see you later then.”

As I ended the call, we looked at each other and then gave each other high fives – it had been the best night ever!

“Well,” Patty said as I came back in.

“Freddie – he says thanks to all of us for playing along and not dobbing them in.”

“Fine – but I still want revenge – let’s go over to the farm and surprise them.”

I looked at the other two, who nodded, so I went to the kitchen and said “Mum, can we go to the Cottrell farm.”

“You’d better call Mrs Cottrell and see if it is all right,” Mum said as she and Dad looked up from the kitchen table. “If she’s happy, I’m happy.”

Dad nodded to show he agreed, before I went to the phone and dialled, hoping and praying it was Frank’s mother who answered...

“Hello, this is Linda Cottrell...”

Breathing a sigh of relief, I said “Hello Mrs Cottrell, its Louise Hobson. I was wondering if it would be all right if the girls and I came over to play with the boys today.”

“I don’t think that will be a problem – Frank will have chores later, but not before lunch. Do you want me to tell them you’re coming?”

“No,” I said with a smile, “we’ll make it a surprise for them – and thanks again Mrs Cottrell.”

Putting the phone down, I said “we’re on – get some supplies, and we’ll go in a few minutes.”

As we walked along the road, Patty said “so how are we going to do this?”

“I’m not sure yet,” I said, “did you bring the water pistols?”

“In the bag,” Rachel said as she held up the rucksack, “so we find them, capture them, and then gloat over them?”

“That’s about the size of it,” I said with a smile.

“So what are we going to do until lunch,” I said as I looked at Frank.

“Well, I don’t need to do anything round the farm, but we could go out to one of the barns, see what we can do in the straw.”

“Isn’t that dangerous,” Charlie said.

“Not at the moment – it isn’t too high, and so long as we don’t try and burrow into it we’ll be fine,” Frank said as he pulled his shoes on. “Come on...”

We went out of the house and over to the stables first, where Trojan had his large head out over the door.

“Hey there,” I said as I patted his nose, and Charlie took his phone out.

“Ah – I need to nip home for a few minutes – I won’t be long,” he said as he sprinted out towards the path to his house.

“Want to go to the barn,” Frank said as I stroked Trojan’s nose.

“I’ll be around in a minute,” I said as I looked at Frank, “don’t worry I won’t be long.”

As we went up the farm road, I saw the three boys coming out of the house, so we held back a few minutes hoping they would not see us. When it was clear they hadn’t, the four of us followed at a distance and waited until we saw Charlie move to go across the field.

“Aww,” Rachel said quietly, “I hope he’s coming back...”

“Crush much,” Patty said as she looked at her friend, before we had to stop ourselves from laughing out loud. We then made our way past the farmhouse, as I looked round the corner to see Freddie talking to the horse Trojan.

“Where’s Frank,” I said as I looked round.

“I see him – he’s gone to a barn over here,” Fiona said as she looked round the corner behind us.

“Right, Rachel, Patty, you watch Freddie, and whistle if he starts to come round,” I said as I took the rucksack, “Frank’s first.”

Fiona and I walked slowly along the back of the building, and looked in the barn behind it. Frank was standing there, his back to us as he looked at some bales of straw. Taking the water pistol out of the rucksack, I walked up behind him, and put my hand over his mouth.

“Whtthtt,” he mumbled before I said “Well done, Frank – it’s payback time.”

Fiona smiled as she said “Hello Frank – hands behind your back, very slowly please.”

“You know Freddie will be around any minute?”

“I’m counting on it,” I said as I took a length of cord and tied his wrists together behind his back, making sure it went around and between his arms, and then tied it off.

As I did this, Fiona was rolling up a black bandana and tying a knot in the middle of it. “Open wide,” she whispered into his ear, and smiled as he allowed her to push the cotton knot between his lips, and then tie the ends together at the base of his neck.

“Go and sit on the bales over there,” I said, gently pushing him in that direction and watching as he sat down, before I tied his ankles together, and Fiona his legs below his knees.

As I tied the knot off, we heard Patty whistle, and quickly moved to stand either side of the barn doors...

“Well, I’d better go and see what Frank’s up to,” I said as I patted Trojan’s nose again, “see you later?”

I started to walk round, waving to Mark and Eric as they worked in the pig sty, and then approached the entrance to the barn.

“Hey Frank – sorry I got...”

I stopped as I saw Frank sitting on a bale of hay, looking at me, over a knotted cleave gag, his legs tied and his hands behind his back.

“Okay,” I said quietly as I looked around, and then came in, “where are they?”

“Right behind you,” I heard my darling sis say as I felt a toy water pistol against my back.

“Ah,” I said quietly as I raised my hands, “I should have expected something after last night. Sleep well?”

“Very well,” Louise said as Patty and Rachel came in, “so what happens now?”

“We make sure you two cannot warn Charlie,” I say as the other two walk to Frank and start to tie his arms to his sides, “so, hands behind your back – please.”

“You know, of course, this means war,” I said, but I smiled as Fiona crossed and tied my wrists together behind my back, and then started to tie my arms to my sides.

“Round his upper arms as well,” Louise said to all three of them, “I want them to feel what we felt last night.”

“You as well, eh,” Fiona said, watching her nod as we both had ropes around their arms, stomach and shoulders tightly applied. I had no idea what they were talking about – they said they had enjoyed last night, but something had annoyed them as well?

“Sit next to Frank,” Fiona said, so I walked over, watching as she tied my ankles and my legs below my knees, and then opening my mouth as Patty pulled a knotted bandana between my teeth as well.

“Two down,” she said as she looked at us, “and I know just the punishment for both of them.”

“And that is?”

Frank and I looked at each other as she pulled off our shoes and socks – and then we knew, as they started to tickle our feet, and we wriggled around.

Well, tried desperately to get out of the way would be a better way of putting it, as they spent the next twenty minutes tickling us mercilessly. I was beginning to think I would never get free from this, when I saw salvation appear in the barn doorway.

We were all so preoccupied with tickling the two of them, for a few minutes we forgot that there were three of them the previous night.

The reminder came when Rachel stepped back, still giggling at the two boys as they wriggled round – and then we heard her giggles suddenly become muffled.

We turned round to see Rachel standing in front of Charlie, her eyes looking at him as he covered her mouth with his hand.

“Well now,” he said as he looked at us, “I see you decided to go for revenge after last night. Is that right Rachel?”

I was astounded to see how much she – well, almost melted as she nodded her head.

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to secure all four of you before I free them,” he said as he looked at Frank and Freddie, “after all, they look as if they need a time out...”

“Well, I think there may be a different approach, O brother of mine.”

I looked over Charlie’s shoulder as he slowly raised his hands, and smiled as I saw Lisa and Cassie standing there. Both girls were wearing padded jerkins over sweaters and jeans, Cassie in a pair of short black leather boots and Lisa wearing a pair of trainers.

“Dad asked us to bring something round to Mr Cottrell,” Lisa said quietly, “but we saw you walking back here, and followed you.”

“This looks interesting,” Cassie said as she looked at our two captives, “what’s going on Patty?”

“Just a nice simple piece of revenge,” Patty said as Rachel walked behind Charlie, and pulled his wrists behind his back before she took some cord from Fiona and started to tie his wrists together.

“Oh yeah – what did they do,” Lisa said as she watched Rachel binding her boyfriend.

“Not much,” Charlie said, “just raided their sleepover a little...”

“Oh that deserves everything you’ve got coming,” Louise said with a smile, watching as Rachel bound his arms, made him sit next to the other two and gagged him, before she tied his legs and then removed his socks and shoes.

“Now then,” Rachel said as we high fived each other, “about last night, and leaving me tied in the chair like that...”

“Fun as this would be to watch,” Cassie said, “we need to take these things to the house.”

“Oh yeah – back in a few minutes,” Lisa said as they left us to torture our captors of the previous night...

It was after we had been tickling them for about fifteen minutes that we took a break.

“Look,” I said as we turned our backs to the boys, “there’s something I meant to ask about last night...”

“What’s that,” Rachel said as she glanced over at Charlie.

“When they tied us for bed, and we had those extra ropes on our chest...”

“Yes?”

“Well – did they feel funny to you as well?”

“You too,” Fiona said as she looked at me, “I thought I was the only one. The tingly feeling when they were rubbing...”

“The way you wanted to gasp out and make them stop,” Patty said, “and then you didn’t?”

“And how warm and scared it made you feel at the same time?”

Fiona and I looked at Patty and Rachel, before we said “Why didn’t either of you say anything?”

Patty blushed and said “it’s not the first time I felt that way. You want it to stop – and then when it does...”

“You want it to happen again,” Rachel nodded and blushed as she spoke.

“OOOOkay – we can talk about this later,” I said, “once we figure out why Cassie and Lisa had not come back as they had promised.”

“Maybe they got offered a drink by Mrs Cottrell,” Fiona said as we stopped and let them recover.

“Or maybe Jay Edwards has struck again,” Patty said – earning her a well earned kick from Rachel.

“Come on Rachel,” Fiona said, “we’ll go and see what’s keeping them.”

We watched them walk towards the house, and looked back at Freddie and his co-conspirators, who were slowly getting their breath back.

“Think they’ve had enough torture?”

“Oh I don’t know – I think they can take a little more, don’t you?”

“Hgddnmmrmrr,” Frank said as he tried to move out of the way, only for Patty to grab his legs and start tickling him again. I gave Charlie a break for a while and started on Freddie.

Well, what are sisters for?

Ten minutes and three exhausted boys later, Patty noticed the lack of return of our friends.

“Mbbehshr,” Freddie said as he looked at me.

“You three stay right there,” I said as I looked at them, “we’ll be right back.”

Patty and I walked back across the yard to the farmhouse, opening the door to the farmhouse and walking in.

“Hello girls,” Mrs Cottrell said, “would you like to stay for lunch? I’ll call your mother and let her know.”

“Thanks,” I said, “have you seen the other girls?”

“No, I’m afraid I haven’t,” was the reply. “Maybe Mark has seen them.”

“Okay – thank you,” Patty said as we turned to go back out of the house – only to find Eric blocking our way.

“Hey – looking for the others?”

“We are,” I said as I looked at him, “have you seen them?”

“Oh yes we have,” we heard Mark say behind us, and as we turned round we saw the toy pistol in his hand. Looking at each other, we raised our hands and made our way into the front room – where four very tightly bound and gagged friends were sitting looking at us.

“Now,” Mark said as he stood in front of us, and Eric took our hands behind our backs, “where are they?”

“Tssnffrfnmssufgtsnte,” Charlie mumbled as we tried to free each other. Patty and my darling sis had gone about fifteen minutes before, and there was no sign of them returning.

Not that Charlie was having much luck, as Frank shook his head and watched us struggling. My real problem was I figured it was going to get close to lunchtime, and I did not want the embarrassment of having to be freed by them.

Or by Frank’s mother.

Although, as it turned out, there was a worse alternative.

“They’re in here, Mark.”

All three of us looked to the barn doors to see Eric standing there, trying hard not to laugh as Mark appeared behind him.

“You know, by all rights I should leave the three of you here,” he said as they came in, “for being stupid enough not to realise the girls would try and get their revenge today. Especially you, Freddie – Louise is your sister after all!”

I had to admit he was right about that as he looked at us. “And then you’ve got Patty and Rachel – two of the best tiers in that group. Seriously, give me one good reason why I should untie you, and not tell Mum and Dad?”

“Bcssurragdsprt?”

Mark looked at Charlie shaking his head as he said “all right – you can thank the two of us later for keeping the girls out of the way.”

“Whtdumnn?”

“We’ll show you,” Eric said as they started to untie us, “once you’ve got your shoes and socks back on. The chickens have been out for a little while.”

We took a moment to sort ourselves out, and then followed the two of them to the farmhouse. As we came in, Mr Cottrell said “Shoes off and wash your hands – lunch will be in a few minutes. Have you seen the girls?”

“We’ll tell them,” Mark called out as we went into the front room – and had to stop ourselves from laughing as we saw the six girls, sat in the chairs, their hands behind their backs and tape bands around their stomachs, legs and ankles. Strips of silver tape were also over their mouths.

“Okay,” Mark said, “honour is satisfied on both sides. Truce?”

The girls looked at each other and nodded, while Eric picked up a pair of scissors.

“Good, because I’m hungry. Cut them free Eric – and everyone wash their hands. It’s lunchtime.”

“Well, I think it’s been a good couple of days, don’t you?”

Freddie and I were in the living room – Charlie had collected his things and gone home, and the girls had all returned after thanking Mum and Dad for the sleepover. They had nipped out for a few minutes to get some things for tea, leaving us watching the television.

“Yeah, I suppose so,” I said as I looked at Freddie, “even if you gave us heart attacks several times over.”

“Oh come on,” Freddie said as he pulled a length of rope out, and started to tie my wrists together behind my back, “you enjoyed it really. It’s like a roller coaster ride – the thought terrifies you, but once you’re on...”

“Once you’re on,” I said as he pulled the rope between my arms and tied it off, and then took another length of rope while I put my legs on his lap, “you can’t do anything else except enjoy it. But last night...”

“I’m sorry if we ruined things for you,” he said as he started to tie my ankles together.

“It’s not that – like I said, it made for a really fun time – but I was worried sick you were going to leave us for Mum and Dad to find in the morning, and explain how we managed to do what happened.”

I wasn’t going to tell him the real reason was the way those ropes they had tied on had bothered me – that was a question for Mum or someone else.

“We sneaked back and started to sort things out, didn’t we?”

“You could have told me, you know.”

“Well, it worked out in the end, didn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” I said with a smile, “just watch it next time, all right?”

“Next time? Another sleepover to raid?”

“Freddie Hobson, I swear I...”

“Hush,” Freddie said as we heard a car stop outside, and he slapped a strip of duct tape over my mouth, looking over the back of the couch as the front door opened, and Dad came in.

“Dinner in thirty minutes – you will untie her then, Freddie?”

“Sure Dad,” Freddie said with a smile as I nodded.

Getting off the couch, Freddie looked at me and said “look – let me make it up to you.”

“Hwww?”

He turned on the television, and found a channel that was showing Totally Spies, sitting down and watching it with me as I cuddled into him. That was nice of him, given he absolutely hates this show – but he sat and watched it with me.

Maybe he isn’t that bad a brother after all...

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