Mistletoe and Wine
Are you waiting for the family to arrive?
It may be a
week to Christmas, but more importantly, only ten days to my birthday! After the year Jenny and I have had, with all
the frights, surprises and changes, I’m looking forward more than ever to being
eleven!
Mind you,
Christmas First!!!! I finish school on
Thursday, and then we’re all getting together for a great big Christmas family
lunch. Aunt Connie and Uncle Dave will
be there, as will Aunt Cassie - and two others, even if we can’t see them. When I heard about Mummy and Aunt Cassie, I
was jumping for joy!
Right now I’m
getting ready for our school party, which is after classes today. We get to go in our own clothes, so I’ve dug
out a pair of jeans and my sweatshirt that I got a few weeks ago in Maine, when
we went on holiday and saw Heidi and all her friends. We hadn’t seen each other since the summer,
and what a week we had! Trips, making
new friends, and of course lots of tie-up games - some of them even at our
choice.
The best new
friend I made out there, however, was Cindy, Heidi’s best friend - she helped
me finally get over all my fears after the events at Aunt Cassie’s house, and
of all things it happened during what they call a ‘Home Invasion.’
It was the
Thursday, and Cindy’s mother had invited me, Jenny and Granny to come round for
dinner. We’d been on a trip with Alicia
and the others, so it was about six o’clock when we got to their house and met
them at the front door. We all walked
in, and took our coats off, but when we went to open the front door two men
stopped us, dressed in suits and with stockings over their heads. We were pushed into the front room, and the
door shut on us as we saw a third man standing there,
We had learnt
a bit about Cindy and her mother the previous Sunday, but what we did not know
was that they were actually under some sort of protection, because her father
had been involved in some big financial mess some years before. When we were marched into the front room, they
told us they were escaped convicts, who had met Cindy’s father, and now wanted
some of the money they thought he had stolen.
Well, Cindy’s
mum - her name was Dorothy - didn’t know anything about any money. So they decided they were going to hold us
hostage, and stay the night, so that she could get them some money in the
morning. While they kept Granny and
Cindy’s mum downstairs, the man who had held Cindy marched the three of us up
to her room, tied our hands behind our back and left us there.
Now, ever
since that night at Aunt Cassie’s I’ve been very scared of what might happen if
we were caught again. It was different
at Jenny’s birthday party, as we were all friends there, but this was the first
time, and Jenny and Cindy could both see I was shaking.
That was when
Cindy started to tell me some of the things that had happened to her - how she
first found out about tie-up games from Heidi, and then about the weekend when
she was held hostage by some madman who had a grudge against Heidi’s mother and
aunt.
I can’t
remember all the details, but as she told me how scared she was, and how much
of a support Heidi had been to her, I began to realize something - it was all
right to be afraid, if someone else was there with you. I looked at Jenny, who nodded as she smiled
at me, and then the tears came.
I don’t think
I’d cried so much since I heard about the mum of one of my school friends
dying, but it was something of a relief to let it all out. I guess it was a bit like what Alicia felt
way back in the summer.
After that,
there was no holding the three of us back, as we quickly untied each other’s
wrists, and then tried to run out of the room - straight into the stomach of
the man standing guard outside. He marched
us back in again, re-tied our hands behind our back, this time crossing our
wrists instead of having them side by side, crossed and bound our ankles, then
found three of Cindy’s scarves and tried to gag us by pulling them between our
lips and tying the ends together at the back of our necks.
Like that was
going to be a problem for us - as Cindy watched us push the scarves out of our
mouths again, and we talked about the other attempt to rob them earlier in the
week. Cindy had fetched help that time,
but this time she wanted to wait - she said the gang in this case needed
someone more specialized to deal with them, and she knew who that person was
going to be.
Next thing we
knew, we were been forced downstairs, where Granny and Dorothy were sat side by
side on a couch, both with their hands behind their backs and ropes around
their ankles and legs. Apparently they
had used our computer to go on-line, and there had been a local newspaper report
about the “visiting dignitary, Lady Lucinda Holderness, and her family.”
The stupid men
actually thought they could use us to get money from Lady Holderness? They didn’t know her very well - but a sit
turned out, we didn’t know the Ellsworth family very well either - or the level
of protection they had.
Anyway, we
were made to stand up, and one of the men spotted we had pushed the gags out of
our mouths rather too easily, so he decided to “do something about it.”
What that
meant is we had our arms tightly bound to our sides with rope, at our waist and
tummies, with little lengths under our armpits to keep them tight. Cindy and I were marched into her room, while
Jenny was taken into her mother’s room with Granny. Dorothy had been left downstairs, presumably
to do something.
The two of us
were sat back to back, and tied together at our tummies, before our legs were
tied at our ankles and knees. He was
just going to use the scarves as cleave gags again, but I told him off right
and proper, so he pushed a handkerchief into our mouths, tied the scarf over
them, and then put some clear tape over our heads as well to keep the gag in
place.
It felt
different, and not as quieting as I would have liked, but I didn’t care - they
had tied me tightly, and that was what I wanted. I felt Cindy’s hand pressing mine, and we sat
there, wondering what was going to happen.
Now, I said
her father had done something big, and they were under protection? Unknown to me, there were cameras in her
room, and somebody they knew called Anne had been told what was happening. Anne had called Heidi’s mother, she had told
Lady Holderness, and…
Well, we were
both woken up at about three o’clock by the sound of talking downstairs, and I
recognized the accent, clear and soft, of Alicia’s grandmother. She had apparently walked up to the door,
rung the bell and announced herself to the startled intruders, saying she
wanted to negotiate our release!
I’d seen her
do this once before, and I knew what was happening, so I nudged Cindy and
squeezed her hand as the window to her room slowly opened, and a woman dressed
in black crept in. She stopped and
looked at us for a moment, then let herself out of the room.
We listened,
and then there was silence for a few minutes, before the door opened again and
Jenny came in. “It’s over,” she said as
she quietly untied us, “we’re going to go back to Veronica’s house, but we
can’t tell anyone what happened here.
You understand, don’t you Cassie?”
I nodded and
said “The Craig Compact?”
“The what
compact,” Cindy said quietly, before the black clad woman came in and escorted
us down the stairs. We joined Granny and
Jenny, and caught a glimpse of three men on the floor, before Lady Holderness
came out and simply said “Let’s go.”
********
When we
finally got back to Britain, we were taken straight to Holderness Manor, where
we had a big surprise party, so it was Tuesday before Jenny and I could sit
down and talk to Granny.
“Girls,” she
said as we sat in Jenny’s room, while Mum was talking to Aunt Cassie
downstairs, “Last Thursday we had an interesting evening. I want to tell you something about it, but
you need to promise to keep it under the compact, all right?”
We looked at
each other and nodded as Granny said “You know that Lord Holderness had a
business in the city, but what you may not know is that he and Lady Holderness
had a slightly different career in the past.
“When I first
met Alexander, it was when he was a Captain in the Intelligence Corps - we were
stationed in the same base. He and
Lucinda were both officers, working on relations with our friends at the time
in Russia - this would be over thirty years ago now. Of course, I had known Lucinda for years
before that, but I had no idea she had married so well.
“Anyway, they
were involved in some - interesting times, and your late grandfather and I knew
much of them. I can’t tell you
everything - some things go above compacts and such like - but they have very,
very well placed contacts.
“Not even
Alicia and Suzie know this, so you must not tell them. Suffice to say their grandmother is a very
brave woman, do you understand?”
Well we both
knew that, so we nodded and no more was said about it - and now here we are, a
week before Christmas, and it’s party time.
Dad poked his
head round the door and said “Time for school, poppet.” I nodded and pulled on my thick duffle coat,
then ran down the stairs, putting on my Ugg boots as I sat on the bottom one.
“When you come
home tonight,” Dad said as he picked up my bag, “We’ll have a special family
time, all right? Your aunts and Gran
will be here as well”
“Can Mum play
as well?”
“If we’re
careful, yes - now come on, or you’re going to be late!”
The party -
the party was great. I loved the games,
the dancing, and of course the presents, but all I really wanted to do was get
home, so when Mum picked me up from school I was almost beside myself with
excitement.
Mum was
wearing a big heavy coat, with her brown leather boots visible under the hem,
the straps tightened to make them fit against her legs. I jumped into the car and as Mum started it I
said “Is everyone else home yet?”
“I think Aunt
Cassie has been held up at school,” Mum said as she drove down the road, “it
was their party as well, so she had to clear up afterwards, but she will join
us soon. Jenny should be home by the
time we get back.”
Jenny was
indeed home, and had changed into a pair of grey joggers and a matching
sweatshirt. She was sitting watching
television when we came into the house, calling out “Dad says tea will be ready
in a few minutes,” as Mum took off her coat to reveal the grey cowl necked
sweater she was wearing over a long sleeved blue top and grey leggings.
“Great, I’ll
give him a hand,” she said as she walked into the kitchen, her boots clopping
on the floor. “How was school, squirt,”
Jenny said as I jumped onto the seat beside her.
“Not bad,” I
replied as I watched the panto with her, and then she handed me a card. “Alicia gave me this for you,” she said as I
opened it, to find a white card inside.
Please come to my 11th birthday party
4 pm, Monday 31st December,
My House
Suzie Holderness
“After that,”
Jenny said as I read the card, “Alicia says we’ve all been invited to a New
Year party at Holderness Manor. Dad has
already said we’ll go.”
“Go where,”
Dad said as he came in, wiping his hands on a cloth.
“The party at
Holderness Manor - Cassie has bagged an invite to Suzie’s birthday party before
that.”
“Of course we
will - I’ll talk to Suzie’s parents to see if they can bring you along afterwards. Anyway - both of you, in the kitchen. Your tea is ready, and I want you to have
eaten before the others get here.”
We both jumped
up and ran into the kitchen, sitting at the table as the door opened and Granny
came in, talking her coat off as she did so.
“Hello girls,” she said as she smoothed down her knee length blue skirt,
“Ready to have some fun later?”
“When the
others get here and they have eaten,” Mum said as she put the kettle on.
It was about
seven o’clock when Aunt Cassie finally came to the door. “Sorry I’m late,” she said as she took off
her leather jacket, “I had a terrible time getting away from the school. I take it I’m the last one?”
“You are,” Dad
said as they walked into the front room.
I jumped onto the couch next to Mum, while Jenny sat on the other side
of her. In the chair was Granny, who had
a mug of coffee in her hands as she looked around the room. She was wearing a pair of baggy black leather
boots and a long sleeved blouse with a floral patterned scarf tied around her
neck.
Aunt Connie
and Uncle Dave were sitting on two of the dining table chairs. Uncle Dave had on a shirt and trousers, while
Aunt Connie was wearing a purple whirly patterned dress with sleeves down to
her elbows. She had a little bump at her
tummy, and a new pair of grey suede boots were on her legs.
Aunt Cassie
was wearing a pair of black leather trousers with felt ankle boots, and a white
roll necked sweater that had a blue scarf folded into a triangle and tied
around her neck so that the point fell on one shoulder.
“Well, now
that we’re all here,” Uncle Dave said as he stood up, “We can begin. We’re going to make you all nice and
comfortable, as well as quiet, while John and I take care of a few things. Anne, why don’t you come and sit next to
Cassie - you both get to sit on the chair this time.”
“How
thoughtful,” Mum said with a slightly sarcastic tone as she stood up and walked
over, sitting herself down as she looked at us.
“Hands behind the back of the chair?”
“If you would
be so kind,” Dad said as he walked behind her.
The four of us watched as Uncle Dave and Dad guided the hands of Mum and
Aunt Cassie behind the chair back, and then did something to them before they
tied them together with some rope. “Are
you going to tie them to the back,” Mum said as she looked over her shoulder,
and then she nodded as Dad did just that.
“Well, at least
we get a nice comfy seat this time,” Aunt Connie said as Uncle Dave walked in
front of her and put her ankles together, using some rope to tie them tightly
to each other so that the grey suede squeaked slightly against her rope, then
took them to the side and tied them to one of the front legs. As for Mum, Dad tied her ankles to each of
the front legs, and then they both had their waist tied to the back of the
chair with a long length of rope.
“Gag us when
the others are ready,” Mum said as Uncle Dave and Dad looked at me and
Jenny. “Ready, Poppet,” Dad said as he
handed me a pair of white socks, while Uncle Dave handed one to Jenny.
“Can we get
the full works,” I said, and Dad nodded as we put the socks on our hands and
stood up, turning to face Aunt Cassie and Granny as we crossed our wrists
behind our back. I giggled as I felt the
rope pulling against my wrists, while Dad tied them tightly together and then
tied them to my back with rope around my waist.
As he cinched the rope between my arms and back, he tickled my sides,
making me giggle and wriggle as Jenny watched from beside me.
“You two are
going to lying on your tummies on the floor,” Dad said as he wrapped some rope
around my arms and stomach, “so we’ll make you nice and secure, and then ask
you to wait while we take care of Granny and Aunt Cassie, all right?”
I nodded as I
felt my arms been pinned to my side, and then sat down on the couch next to
Jenny as Granny and Aunt Cassie stood up.
“So where do you want both of us,” Granny said as she looked at Dad.
“Put these on
first - everyone gets the same, Mum,” he said as he handed them some socks to
put on their hands, and then we watched as they had their wrist crossed behind
their back and tied together, and then rope around their waists to hold them in
position. They were then helped to sit
on the floor, to one side, and as we all watched Dad and Uncle Dave tied their
upper bodies together with a long length of rope, passing it around them, and
then between their backs and their arms as they were tied together.
“You know what
this reminds me of, Mum? The time John
held us both hostage in the bedroom until Connie returned with a ransom of
sweets from the shop,” Aunt Cassie said as Uncle Dave crossed her ankles and
tied them tightly together, the rope sinking into the black felt, and then tied
her legs together below her knees.
“Oh yeah, I
remember that day,” Aunt Connie said as she tried to wriggle round in her
chair. “I especially remember the fact
he tied me up in my own room and would not let either of you go until he had
checked every single sweet was as demanded.”
“Good thing I
did check,” Dad said as he finished tying Granny’s legs together below her
knees, and then pulled her skirt down to cover the rope, “Or else I would not
have noticed you had pilfered a few.” Standing
up, he came over and started to tie our ankles together, crossing them as the
rope went over the socks we had pulled up over the cuffs of our pants, and then
our legs below our knees, before we were helped to lie on the floor and placed
in our favorite hogties.
“This is
great,” I said as I looked up and smiled at Mum, “How much longer do you think
you and Aunt Connie will be able to play these games, Mum?”
“We’ll play
that by ear, dear,” Mum said with a smile as Dad folded six handkerchiefs into
pads. “Right,” he finally said as he
handed three to Uncle Dave, “Time for
you all to enjoy some nice, peaceful quiet girls’ time together. Open wide now.”
One by one, we
had a pad pushed into our mouth, the cotton tickling my tongue as it went into my
mouth, and then we had one of Dad’s old ties pulled between our lips to keep it
in place. I wanted more, though, and
nodded like mad when Dad produced two rolls of our favorite white tape, and
wound it round the head of each of us, sealing in the gag as we mumbled.
“You know what
would look nice,” Uncle Dave said as he looked at Granny and Aunt Cassie on the
floor. Dad nodded as they removed the
scarves from around their neck, folded them into bands and then tied them over
their white bands.
“Stttt,” Mum
mumbled as she looked at Dad. “Give me a
minute,” he said as he left the room, returning with four more scarves that he
tied over the mouths of all of use. I
looked at Jenny as we wriggled a bit on the floor, while Dad said “Right - Dave
and I need to sort something out, so just hang in there, all right?”
“Lrrtsn,”
Granny said as she looked at the two men leaving the room. As he passed the music player, Uncle Dave
pressed a button, as we heard the sound of Micky Bubles singing a Christmas
song….
We all sat or
lay there, laughing as we tried to talk to each other, and occasionally a
squeaking sound as we tried to move our legs - especially from Mummy, Granny
and Aunt Cassie, as the leather they were wearing rubbed against the rope, or
the chair. We didn’t want to be free either
as the music played - it was great just to be together, and to share this. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world,
to have such a great family.
We were like
that for two hours, before Dad and Uncle Dave freed us - we both had the last
day of school tomorrow, so we needed to go to our beds.
********
The days that
followed that seemed to pass in a blur - after all, Christmas always seems to
come far too quickly, but there was one thing about Christmas morning that Mum
and Dad never really liked - the fact that Jenny and I tended to get up earlier
than usual.
Much earlier
than usual - I think my personal record is two in the morning, so when Dad said
to us on Christmas Eve “We need to find a way to make sure that you two stay in
bed tomorrow morning,” we both looked at each other and then at him.
“Oh no,” Mum
said quietly, “You know how we feel about you two sleeping tied up. We only allow it when you’re really, really
tired, and this is not one of those nights.”
“But it’s a
special night, Mum,” I pleaded, “and you just have to stop us getting out of
the bed. We promise we’ll be good…”
Mum and Dad
looked at each other, before Dad said “all right, we can do this - but I want
you two to sleep in the same bed, so we’ll use the double bed in the spare
room. I want you to go and change into
your pajamas, brush your teeth, and make sure you each have a pair of bedsocks
on, all right?”
It was about
ten when he said this, and to be honest, I was a little tired, so we both
nodded and went upstairs. Fifteen
minutes later, we were sitting on the spare double bed, waiting for Mum and
Dad. I had on a new pair of light blue
cotton pajamas, while Jenny was wearing her old Tigger ones. We both had
a pair of white bedsocks on our feet, and as they came in we saw Dad was
carrying two lengths of rope and two pairs of fingerless mittens.
“I’m only
going to do a simple tie,” he said quietly, “and I want your word to me and your
mother you will not try and get off the bed until we come in in the
morning.” We both nodded as he gave us
the mittens, and we put them on our hands.
Dad then
handed one coil of rope to Mum, and we watched as they both made a lasso and
then passed it over our heads, Mum for me and Dad for Jenny, pulling it gently
so that our arms were pinned to our sides.
“Lie down,” Dad said, and when we had done so they tied our wrists together,
palm to palm, in front of us, then took the rope down and around our legs above
our knees, then round our ankles. When
they had finished, we looked like a pair of parcels tied up for the postman.
“Now,” Dad
said as he held up a roll of the white tape “One strip over your lips, and that
is enough. That means you can breathe
when you fall asleep, all right?”
“All right
Dad,” I said, and I kissed him and Mum as they leaned over and hugged me before
the tape went over my mouth. Jenny got
the same, and as we snuggled together on the bed Dad said “Good night, Girls,”
turning the light off. Jenny and I
mumbled a bit for a while, but then my eyes just seemed to close themselves…
“Merry
Christmas, Poppet!!”
I opened my
eyes at the sound of Mum’s voice, and then looked at Jenny as she began to stir
as well. Turning my head to the door, I
say Mum standing there, wearing a blue silk dressing gown and smiling.
“There is a
pair of scissors on the bed beside you,” she said as I noticed the kitchen scissors
lying there, “and your stockings are at the end of your bed. It’s eight in the morning, and breakfast will
be in an hour. See you downstairs.”
“Mrrrschrstmscsse,”
Jenny said as she rolled over and looked at me, then wriggled down so that she
could take the scissors in her hands and start to cut the rope that was holding
my wrists to my legs. Once she had freed
them, I could reach up and pull the tape off my mouth, before smiling and
screaming “IT’S CHRISTMAS DAY!!!!”
“Ystsss,”
Jenny said as she nodded her head, “btcnugtmfrre?”
I nodded as I
started to pick at the knot that was holding the rope in place on her. As it finally gave way, she was able to twist
her ankles free, then her legs, before she helped to untie me and I was able to
untie her.
“That’s
better,” she said as she peeled the tape away from her mouth. “I need to go to the toilet - feel free to
start in on your stocking.”
I nodded and
literally jumped to the end of the bed, where a large red stocking had been
left filled with small presents.
Now, I need to
explain what tended to happen with me at Christmas, given my birthday is so
very wonderfully close to it. I usually
get quite a few smaller presents on Christmas day, and it tends to be gifts of
money for me from the family, while Jenny gets bigger presents. I’m fine with that - because it means I get
the bigger presents three days later, when it is my birthday. Great fun all round, as far as I’m concerned
- especially as Mum and Dad always arrange a big birthday party for me.
Anyway - I
grabbed the stocking and pulled it onto the bed, as Jenny came back in and
picked hers up as well. Tearing into the
first parcel, I found a brand new woolen scarf and gloves, which were a lovely
pink colour. Jenny had a matching blue
pair of gloves and scarf, as we began to eagerly work our way down, opening
paper as if we were a pair of whirly dervies, as Dad once called us.
The stocking
had a number of chocolate bars, fruit, and small gifts like CDs in them, but at
the bottom of each was a small box wrapped in silver paper. As we opened it, Jenny gasped and said “Wow,”
holding up a silver chain on the end of which was a small heart shaped locket.
“We felt it
was time you both had one,” Dad said from the doorway. We jumped up and hugged him, saying “Thanks
Dad”, “Merry Christmas,” and “Is that bacon I smell” - not necessarily in that
order.
“Get washed
and put on your dressing gowns,” Dad said with a smile - “After breakfast, you
need to get ready for church - and remember, you get to take one thing from
your stocking with you.”
Christmas Day
at our house followed a fairly set pattern - we open our stockings, but any
presents under the tree wait until we all come back from Church. Then we go for a walk, before Christmas
Dinner - always cooked by Granny. “It’s
the one thing I insist on,” She always said, “that I cook this one day for the
family. Now get out and get some fresh
air.”
But I’m
getting ahead of myself - first things first, as we came down to the kitchen
and ate our breakfast.
“Can we wear
our new gloves and scarves when we go out later,” Jenny said as we watched the
rain falling outside.
“Of course you
can,” Mum said as she sat down. “It will
give you the perfect excuse to try them out, but I need to stay behind this
year.”
“Oh,” I said,
“Will Granny let you?”
“She asked me
to,” Mum said as she cut into her egg, “Apparently she wants the help. I’ve never known her to ask, but I’m sure
it’s just to set the table - she’d never let me into the kitchen to actually
cook.” She looked at Dad as she said
this, who simply laughed and said “Don’t worry - she’s probably concerned about
you overexerting yourself.”
“I doubt it,
but I’m sure she has a good reason,” Mum said as she drank some of her hot
drink. “Right, eat up, then go and get
dressed - we need to be on our way to church by ten.”
********
The one good
thing about our church service on Christmas Day is it is short.
Nah, I’m
joking - it’s seeing everyone there and showing them our presents. Jenny and I both chose to wear our new
lockets. I put on a white long sleeved
jumper and a black pinafore dress, with white tights and flat shoes, while
Jenny wore a green smock top, with a grey long sleeved top and leggings, and
her favourite black corduroy boots with the buttons on the side. Mum had on her grey jumper and jacket, with
her brown boots and leather jacket, while Dad had on a very striking new jumper
and his trousers.
Granny, Aunt
Connie and Uncle Dave, and Aunt Cassie were all at the church when we
arrived. Granny had on a new light blue long sleeved
dress, with a thin belt around her waist, and black boots. Aunt Cassie was wearing a long skirt and
brown soft boots, with a jacket over her top, while Aunt Connie had on a pair
of trousers and a long top that covered her little bump.
“How’s my new
cousin,” Jenny said as she looked at our aunt.
“Fine - come
here,” Aunt Connie said, and as we went over, she said “put your ears to my
tummy and listen.”
“Is that you,”
Jenny said as she heard a little thumping sound.
“No - that’s
your cousin saying Hi,” Uncle Dave said with a smile. “Right - let’s go in.”
The service
was short, and it was noon when we all got back to our house. Mum went to the kitchen to make some
sandwiches, while we went into the living room and Dad came back with a bottle
of lemonade, a thick green bottle that glistened, and some long thin glasses.
“A toast,” he
said as he popped the cork out of the thick bottle and poured some fizzy liquid
into six of the glasses, then lemonade into the other two. Mum came in with a large plate of sandwiches,
then took one of the glasses as Dad said “Merry Christmas”
“MERRY
CHRISTMAS” we all shouted as we took a drink - me and Jenny having lemonade of
course. We then sat down and ate the
sandwiches, as Aunt Cassie said “Do you like the lockets girls? We all got one when we were young girls as
well - another family tradition.”
“They’re
great,” Jenny said, “but I can’t wait to see what’s under the tree for me.”
“After lunch,”
Dad said, “and then we can all open them together.” We ate quickly, and then sat round as one by one
the presents were handed out.
As I expected,
most of mine were little envelopes with money inside, but I didn’t mind
watching as Jenny opened her bigger presents - a new mini stereo system from
Mum and Dad, a new jacket from Granny, a set of DVDs from Aunt Cassie and a new
set of pajamas from Uncle Dave and Aunt Connie.
We watched as
the adults shared their presents, until Dad took the last two from under the
tree and handed them to us. “Two joint
presents, for everyone really,” he said, “but you can open them.”
Jenny took the
smaller envelope and opened it, screaming “Wow thanks” as she held up a set of
tickets for Cinderella at the Richmond theatre.
“But there are two extra - are Alicia and Suzie coming?”
“You’ll see,”
Granny said with a smile, “Open the second box.”
I tore the
silver paper off, and opened it to reveal - a lot of rolls of various types of
sticky tape, including our favourite white one.
“That should
be enough for some games,” Mum said with a smile, “But you lot need to get out
of here for a walk.”
Jenny and I
looked at each other, and said “Can we give some of it a try now?”
“You need to
leave the house,” Granny said, “Unless…
You want your hands tied and to be gagged while you’re out, right?”
“Can we,
PLEASE…” we both pleaded. “All right,”
Dad said, “Go and get your gloves and scarves, and meet me in the hallway.”
We both ran up
the stairs, and came down with our gloves on and our scarves round our
necks. Dad had taken one of the rolls of
tape, this one the same colour as our skin, and after we put our coats and
gloves on he pulled the coat sleeves back and taped out wrist together, one on
top of the other, then pulled our sleeves down so that they covered our hands.
“Put something
in our mouths,” I said, so Dad pushed a clean hankie into each of our mouths,
then put a strip of the pink tape over our lips. It stuck just as well as the white tape, and
when Dad tied the new scarves over our mouths it hid it brilliantly.
“Right,”
Granny said as she came out and looked at our watch, Dad and the others putting
on their coats, “Out of here, all of you - and I don’t want you back until four
o’clock.”
“We’re going
mum,” Dad and our two aunts chorused, then they burst out laughing as we left
the house, turning right and heading for the local park. As we reached the bottom of the road, a taxi
turned in, but we didn’t pay that much attention to it as Jenny and I skipped
down the road, the others following.
The local park
is huge, with a boating lake in the middle.
Perfect for the thing you have to do before a big meal - exercise and
work up an appetite. As we walked in
the gates, Jenny and I ran off in advance, taking care not to trip over as we
did so, while Dad and the others followed behind. We ran up and down the hill, then round the
lake as we looked at each other - saying nothing, but understanding how it felt
in the cold air to be outside like this, and none of the other kids any the
wiser as to how we were.
It was
starting to get dark as we walked back up the road towards the house, and we
could see the lights on in the front room.
“I guess Mum
had nearly finished cooking by now,” Dad said as he opened the door, and we all
walked in. As Aunt Cassie closed the
door behind us, Granny came out of the kitchen.
“John,” she
said quietly, “Get the girls untied and ungagged now, before you do anything
else.”
“All right,”
Dad said as he took our scarves off and peeled the tape away from our lips,
while the others took their coats off, “But why…”
“Is that my
granddaughters I hear out there” I heard a woman say in a very strange
accent. Dad heard it as well, as he
mouthed “You’re joking” to Granny. She
just smiled and shook her head, as Dad hastily unwrapped the tape around our
wrists and helped us off with our coats and things.
“You’d better
go into the living room girls,” he said, and as we walked in we found Mum
sitting with an older couple. They were
slim, and their skin was as if they had been in the sun. The man was wearing an open necked short
sleeved shirt and light coloured trousers, while the woman had on a floral
patterned dress, tights and shoes.
“My god how
big you have got,” the woman said as she stood up, her arms outstretched.” I looked at Jenny, who was standing there
open mouthed.
“Granny
Carter! Grandpa Carter!” she almost screamed, as she ran into the open arms and
cuddled the woman standing there.
“That’s my
Jennifer,” she said as she put her arms round here, “and is this little
Cassandra? Last time I saw her, she was
just starting school, and now look at her - quite the little lady. Come and give your granny and grandpa a hug.”
I stepped
forward as Grandpa Carter stood up, his arms wide as he welcomed me. He smelt of clover as he held me, and said
“It has been a long time hasn’t it? How
are you enjoying school? Looking forward
to your birthday?”
“Yes,
Grandpa,” I said as I snuggled into his chest, “This is a fantastic Christmas
present.”
“I didn’t even
know they were coming,” Mum said as Dad stood behind her and put his arms
around her neck, “but this is why your mother wanted me to stay and ‘help’.”
“Guilty as
charged,” Granny said as she looked in the door. “You remember Cassie and Connie - and this is
Connie’s husband, Dave.”
“A pleasure to
meet you,” Grandpa Carter said as he let go of me and shook Dave’s hand, “I’m
George, and the lovely lady sitting there is my wife June.”
“A pleasure to
finally meet you,” Uncle Dave said, “Anne here has told us so much about you.”
“So, Cassandra,”
Granny Carter said with a smile, “Has Santa brought you lots of gifts?”
“Yeah,” I
said, “I got lots of money, and we also got a box of ta…” I caught a warning glance from Jenny, and
said quickly “… lcum powder as well.
It’s fun been the youngest, but I won’t be next year, will I Mum?”
Granny Carter
looked at Mum and Dad, while Granny said “Right - dinner is ready. You girls go and wash up, and then we’ll
eat.”
I realized
then that Mum still had not said anything, as Granny Carter said “Is there
something you need to tell me…”
“Are you sure
you should have that second glass, Anne?
After all, you are…”
“I’ll be fine,
Mum,” Mum said with a slight hint of exasperation as Dad poured some more white
stuff into her glass. “After all, the
girls turned out fine, right?”
“I know, I
know, but I’m still in shock - why didn’t you tell us before now?”
“We wanted to
wait for the first scan,” Dad said as he pushed his dinner plate away from him,
“Which is next week. Still, all is well
so far, so…”
“Relax, June,”
Grandpa Carter said, “It’s the best Christmas present we could possibly have
hoped for dear. Especially with the news
of Connie as well.”
“Jenny,
Cassie, why don’t you bring the plates through for me, and then you can bring
the Christmas pudding in,” Granny said.
Jenny and I looked at each other, then stood up, making sure our paper
hats stayed on our heads as we gathered up the plates and carried them
carefully through.
“Now that we
are alone,” Granny said as the door closed on the dining room, “I need to thank
you Jenny, for stopping Cassie blurting something out. Girls, your grandparents on your mother’s
side don’t know about the games you play, or that your mum and dad play, and I
don’t want you to tell them.”
“So you want
us to lie, Granny,” I said as she put three piles of bowls on the table. To the side was a large pot full of soapy
water, which had the cutlery sticking out from it, and the dirty plates were
neatly arranged in piles.
“No, not as
such Cassie - I just want you to keep it our secret from them, all right?” I looked at Jenny, who nodded and said “We
can do that Granny - but are they staying here?”
“No dear -
they’re staying in a hotel for the next week or so, so they will be here for
the New Year’s holiday - and for your birthday Cassie. So that will be extra fun. Now, carry those bowls in carefully, and I
will follow.”
I love
Christmas Dinner in our house - everyone round the same table, and we eat and
eat and eat and eat. Grandpa Carter told
us all about their home in Australia - it was summer there apparently, so he
said they had come home to get some decent cold weather - and some of their
friends. Aunt Cassie told them of some
of the thing she had done “While working at the Catholic mission in India” as
she put it, while Granny pottered in and out and brought the food.
Eventually,
Dad stood up and said “Right - let’s all go and have coffee in the front room,
where we can relax. Mum, Dave and I will
do the washing up.”
“I’ll help,”
Grandpa Carter said “Give the girls a chance to get together. We’ll bring the coffee through in a little
while.” Granny tried to protest, but
they fell on deaf ears as the three men of the room made their way to the
kitchen.
“Oh well,” she
said as she stood up, “Let’s go. There
are a couple of things we need to discuss anyway. First of all, June, Lucinda has invited you
to join us at the party next Monday night.”
“Lucinda? Lucinda Holderness? That’s very generous of her, but we haven’t
brought any formal wear.”
“It’s not a
formal party,” Aunt Cassie said, “but we will dress up a little bit. I’m sure you have something that will fit.”
“And then
there is the small matter of three days from now,” Mum said as she looked at
me. “Jenny, you and Cassie need to leave
us for a few minutes - we don’t want to spoil the surprise.”
“Come on
Cassie,” Jenny said as she took my arm, “let’s go and watch a DVD.”
“But I want to
hear what they…”
“Now,” Jenny
said as we left the room, closing the door behind us….
********
Boxing Day was
a blur, as we all went to the panto - the extra tickets were for Granny and
Grandpa - and then we had a quiet, peaceful day at home - especially as Dad
made sure Jenny and I were snugly tied in our beds for most of the morning.
So when I woke
up this morning, there was only one thought on my mind - IT’S MY
BIRTHDAY!!! I looked to the side of my
bed, but there was nothing there, so I got out of bed and put on my dressing
gown and slippers
“Hello?” I
called out, but there was no reply, so I made my way to the bathroom and spent
a few minutes in there. When I came out,
I thought I heard something in Jenny’s room, so I opened the door and looked
in.
That was when
I was grabbed and pulled in, by two people, a man and a woman, dressed in black
with balaclavas over their heads. They
picked me up and dropped me on Jenny’s bed, the man saying in a deep muffled
voice “Be quiet little one” as the woman tied my ankles tightly together with
rope.
I was wearing
a short sleeved Pooh bear nightie, so she then folded the skirt back and tied
my legs together below my knees, while the man took another length of rope and
crossed my wrists in front of me, tying them tightly together and making sure
he passed the rope between my arms.
When they were
done, they sat me up, and he tied some rope around my waist. It was a bit unusual, seeing my wrists held
down tight against my tummy, but it was nice - even nicer when he passed some
rope around my arms and belly to keep them held in place.
As he did
this, the woman took a small sponge ball and held it in front of my mouth. “Open up” she whispered, and I nodded as I
let her push the ball into my mouth, and then tie one of my socks between my
teeth to keep it there - followed by white tape around my mouth and head.
“You’re coming
with us,” the man said. Well, duh - I
had figured that out, but I had no idea who they were. They were not Mum and Dad - I knew that
much. Anyway, it was not as if I had a
choice, as they pulled a pillow case over my head and lifted me up, carrying me
to - well, I had no idea, but I knew I was in a car when I heard and felt the
engine starting and we drove off.
As we drove, I
could hear music - Taylor Swift, so whoever it was knew what I liked. As a result, I had no real idea how long we
drove for, until I heard him say “We’re here” and I was carried again, then
left on a soft something.
“Sssnneeenthr,”
I called out, trying to get the hood off my head. So when it was pulled off suddenly, I blinked
a few times before recognizing my ‘rescuer’.
“Bbbeeee?”
“Well hello
Miss Craig,” Bobby Holderness said as he looked at me, “Welcome to your
Birthday Party.”
“Mbrfdeeprteee?”
“What he
said,” Suzie said as she helped me to sit up.
“We’ll untie you, you get changed, and then the fun can begin.” She had on a pair of jeans and the t-shirt we
got in Maine, while Bobby was wearing a jumper and trousers.
I also
recognized where I was now - Granny’s house, in the room Jenny and I use when
we sleep over. I let Bobby cut away the
tape, then remove the gag and said “Who else is here?”
“For the
moment, just us three, and your Granny - oh, and the people who brought you
here. I hope you don’t mind Mum and Dad
surprising you.”
“Mum
and…HEY!!” I felt Bobby kissing me on
the cheek, and turning saw he was holding a sprig of Mistletoe above our heads.
“Ignore him,”
Suzie said as she stuck her tongue out, “He tried that on Alicia, and get a
real tongue lashing.”
“An undeserved
one.”
“She was
carrying the potatoes to the table, doofus,” Suzie said with a laugh. I was still taking in what was happening when
I said “Hang on - your mum and dad brought me here? Where were my mum and dad - and Jenny?”
“Sorting out a
big present for you - apparently they’re coming later.” As he said this, Bobby untied the ropes around
me. “So come on - get dressed. I’ll go and get some drinks sorted out.”
He left me
with Suzie, as I saw a small pile of clothes on a chair. There was some clean underwear, my blue denim
pinafore dress, a grey jumper, some leggings and a pair of white socks with my
trainers - all of which I put on quickly.
As we walked
downstairs, Granny came out and said “Happy Birthday Cassie - the rest of them
will be here in half an hour, so wait until they come before you open your
presents. Alexander and Susan, can I get
you more coffee?”
“Thank you,”
Mrs. Holderness said as we walked in.
“Happy birthday Cassie,” she said, “I’m sorry if we frightened you.”
“No - it was
fun,” I said as I sat down. “Thank you.”
Bobby came in,
carrying a small box. “Look,” he said,
“don’t tell your sister, or Alicia, but I got your a little Christmas/Birthday
present. I hope you like it.” He handed it to me, and watched as I opened
it.
It was a small
brooch, made to look like a knotted piece of rope, but made out of gold. “I… I don’t know what to say,” I whispered,
“Thank you Bobby.”
“Don’t mention
it,” he said quietly, but he blushed as I grabbed him around the neck and
kissed his cheek - just as Jenny came in.
“Hey, Cass, I
was a little early, so I….” Jenny
stopped and looked at me and Bobby, the redness on his cheeks probably a little
less than mine.
“Right,” she
said as she turned and closed the door.
“Mum and Dad are on their way with Granny and Grandpa Carter, and the
rest of the family will be here for the party this afternoon. “
“Party,” I
said quickly as I jumped up, “Who is coming?”
“You’ll see,”
she said with a smile. “Right now you’re
going to open your family presents, so just be patient.” She shot a look at bobby, smiled and said to
his parents “Thanks for bringing Cassie here - I’m sorry if she was a pain.”
“No trouble at
all, Jenny,” Mrs. Holderness said with a smile.
“It was quite exciting for us as well anyway.” Suzie walked back in at that point, and said
“Your granny has a drink for you in the kitchen, Cassie.”
An excuse to
get out of the embarrassment was just what I needed, as I went out, followed by
Jenny who said “Well well, a little Lord Holderness has his eye on you,
sis. If you don’t watch out, you’ll
become the next but one Lady Holderness.”
“No chance,” I
said as we walked into Granny’s kitchen, and picked up the two glasses of
squash that were there. Granny looked at
me, saw the brooch, and said “that looks nice, Cassie, who gave it to you?”
“Bobby - it
was a present,” I blurted out, then felt my cheeks go red again as I did
so. Granny smiled and said “Well, it’s
very nice dear - now you need to get ready.
The others will be here in a little while.”
I had not
realized how late it was, but it was nearly noon when we gathered in the front
room of Granny’s house. Mum and Dad had
arrived with Granny and Grandpa Carter, while Bobby and Suzie had gone home for
lunch. They were coming to my party
later, but wanted to get changed. Which
was fair enough - Mum had brought a change of clothes for me for later as well.
“Happy
birthday Poppet” Dad said as I jumped onto his lap and gave him a great big
hug, “Did Bobby’s parents bring you here safely?”
“Yes thanks
Granny, “I said with a smile. “They kept
me nice and safe after they picked me up.”
I winked at her, as Mum said “Well, let’s get on with opening your
presents from us.”
Granny and Granny
Carter then wheeled in a table with lots of wrapped up presents on it, my eyes
widening as I saw how many there were. I
started with the one at the top - which had a label on saying “Happy birthday,
Poppet, from Mum and Dad.” Tearing open
the paper, I uncovered a new light blue trouser suit.
“You’re
growing up so fast now,” Mum said with a smile, “that I think it’s time you
started to look like the young woman you are turning into.” I didn’t mind - I thought it looked
wonderful, and gave both of them a big hug.
“Mine next,”
Jenny said as she handed me a box wrapped in silver paper. Pulling the paper off, I saw she had bought -
or maybe mum and dad had bought - for me a DVD box set of Scooby Doo: Mystery
Inc series one. We had caught one or two
of these on CBBC, but it was the perfect present for me.
They had other
presents for me as well - CDs, and games I could play on the PS3. But then it was Granny’s turn, and she handed
me three packages in red shiny paper.
“I think you
will get some use from them,” she said as I opened the first one. It was a dress up outfit, and for a few
moments I was going to tell Granny I was getting too old for dress up. But then I looked at it properly - and it was
a Princess Jasmine outfit. I looked at
her, and smiled as she whispered “In case you ever want to play the kidnapped princess.”
The second
parcel had a bigger surprise - a new black iPod. “Mum and Dad will need to keep an eye on what
you put on it,” she said, “but I think you’re ready for that now.”
It was the
third parcel that intrigued me the most - it was soft and pliable in my hands,
but it was also thick. Laying it down, I
opened it carefully to reveal twenty scarves, of different sizes, colours,
styles and materials. On the top was a
little note, which I opened.
“This may stop
you borrowing mine - but wear them as well.
Granny.”
I smiled and
said “thank you Granny” as I gave her a great big hug. “They’re perfect.”
“Well, you
certainly are going to be quite the little lady,” Grandpa Carter, “but I hope
you like our present as well.”
He handed me
an envelope, and I saw they had given me the same thing they had given Jenny -
£100 in Amazon vouchers. “Spend them
wisely,” Granny Carter said, “Perhaps on some new books.”
I looked at
the trolley, and saw there was one small gold parcel left on it. Picking it up, I opened it and saw it was a
set of small keys. Looking round the
room, I said “What does this open?”
“Have a look
outside in the garage,” Dad said, and I went out, the others following
behind. As I opened the door from the
kitchen, I almost dropped the keys in excitement.
There, against
the wall, was a brand new racing bike, with a pink ribbon tied around it and a
chain fastened round it with a padlock. I
was actually trembling as I used one of the keys to unlock the chain, as Mum
said “We thought you might like this - but no riding it on the road until you
pass your cycling proficiency test.”
I was totally gob
smacked, as Granny took me by the arm and said “Come along, Cassandra - you
need to get ready for your party. The
first of the guests will be arriving soon.”
Granny has a
fairly large house, but it is not that large, so she had invited only a few of
my closest friends from school - without telling me of course. The first to arrive was Pippa, who I have
been in the same class as since starting school. She’s a little taller than me, with long
brown hair that she invariable has in two pigtails, and steel rimmed
glasses. She had on a teal coloured
party frock with long socks and flat shoes.
Then there was
Hazel, who I go to gymnastics classes with.
She’s a year younger than me, with short blonde hair, and was wearing
what looked like a blue leotard over a black top with a long gypsy style
skirt. With her was Claire, her twin
sister - well, not matching twins, as she is taller and slimmer with long black
hair, but she was dressed the same way.
Half a dozen
other school friends had been invited along, and they came in one by one,
hugging me and giving me cards and presents as they did so. Granny had said that one other friend was
going to come, but that she was arriving a little later. In the meantime, Suzie and Bobby had come
back - Suzie was now wearing a red velvet party dress, while Bobby was in a
shirt and tie with some dark trousers.
But they weren’t the only ones who came.
Alicia was
with them, smiling as she handed me a box.
“This is from all of us,” she said with a smile, “and this is from
me.” She put a second, smaller box on
the top, and then went over to join Jenny at the far side of the room.
I had been
allowed to put on my new trouser suit, with a white t-shirt underneath, and a
pair of brown ankle boots that I had bought just before Christmas. “Welcome to my birthday tea,” I said to
everyone as the door opened and Aunts Cassie and Connie and Uncle Dave came in.
“Happy
birthday, Cassie,” they both said as they handed me their presents. Granny had cleared her front room and hung up
balloons and all sorts of streamers, as well as a big banner that said “HAPPY
11TH BIRTHDAY CASSIE” in red letters, so we all went in there and started to
play some games.
Bobby, Jenny
and Alicia all helped as we played a number of party games, such as Pass the
Parcel and Musical Chairs, but the one I liked the most was Blind Man’s
Bluff. We all took turns, with Granny
using two woolen scarves, one to blindfold us and the other to secure our hands
behind our back. It wasn’t anything like
out usual tie-up games, but it was a wonderful feeling to play it, and as I
watched Pippa and Hazel in particular I thought about the American trip, and
Jannifer’s little sisters.
Anyway, after
the games we all had a birthday tea, and I blew out the candles before opening
my presents. My friends all gave me
cards with money or vouchers, but it was the presents from the others I was
interested in.
First was Aunt
Cassie, who had bought me a lovely warm and soft quilted jacket. Aunt Connie and Uncle Dave had bought me a
pair of knee length boots, just like Mummy’s brown ones.
I looked at
the big box from Alicia, and opened it to look inside. My eyes must have looked like saucers, as
Jenny came over and looked into it.
“Wow,” she said as she drew out a gorgeous formal dress, made of green
silk, with short puffed sleeves and a gathered waist. There was also a pair of green satin slippers
inside.
“I… “
“Don’t say
it,” Alicia replied with a smile. “Wear
it with pride. Now open the other
present.”
I opened the
smaller box, to find a matching shrug. I
must have got something in my eye, because I was crying as I hugged everyone.
“And now,”
Granny said as she stood up, “I have a very special treat for you. If you will come into the drawing room, I
have someone to meet you.”
We all filed
through, and sat down in a circle round a makeshift stage. “Please welcome,” Granny said with a
flourish, “The Great Magnifico!”
She had hired
a magician for the day, and we all clapped and hollered as a tall man with grey
hair came in and bowed. “Good
afternoon,” he said with a deep, deep voice, “I am the Great Magnifico, and I
am here to entertain you all!!”
All right, I
know it sounded corny, but we went with it.
He did card tricks, produced a real bunny from a hat, all the usual
things, but towards the end of his act he said “I need a volunteer from the
audience - how about you, little lady?”
He pointed at
Suzie as he said this, who smiled as she said “Sure - anything for my best
friend.” She went to the front with a
chorus of applause ringing in her ears, as Magnifico opened the front of a
cabinet.
“If you will
step in here, my dear,” he said as he took Suzie’s hand, “I will do the
impossible, and make you disappear.” She
giggled as she waved to all of us, while the magician closed the box and turned
it round.
“And now I say
the magic words- Nutella on toast,” he said, and tapped the cabinet three times
with his wand. Opening the door, we all
shrieked as we saw that Suzie had disappeared.
“Make her come
back, make her come back,” I was surprised to hear myself call out. “As you wish,” the magician said as he bowed
to me, closed the door, and tapped the side three time again.
“And -
PRESTO!” he called out as he opened the door - and there was someone
there. But it wasn’t Suzie. It was another girl, dressed in a black
pinafore dress over a long sleeved white blouse, knee length white socks and
black shoes, and she was smiling as she said “Happy Birthday, Cassie,” in an
American accent.
Jenny shrieked
as I looked to the side of the room, and saw Granny standing there with another
woman I recognized. “Oh… My…. GOD!” I
shouted out, “CINDY!!!!”
Cindy stepped
out of the cabinet, to sounds of applause, before walking over and giving me a
huge bear hug. “Surprise,” she said as
she looked at me, “Mum and I came over for the New Year holiday, and your
grandmamma asked if we would like to come and surprise you.”
I looked over
at Granny, who was just standing there smiling.
“But if you’re here,” I said quietly, “then who else is?” It looked as if the same question had
occurred to both Jenny and Alicia, who walked out of the room, Alicia’s pleated
skirt switching slightly as she walked.
“Show you in a
little while,” Cindy said with a smile. “In
the meantime…”
“In the
meantime,” Granny said, “You need to say goodbye to the rest of your party
guests. Suzie is helping your mother in
the kitchen, so you will see her later.”
“Aren’t you
going to introduce us, Cassandra,” Granny Carter said as she came over. “Oh I’m sorry,” I said quietly, “Cindy, this
is my grandmother on my mum’s side.
Granny Carter, this is Cindy Ellsworth, and over there is her
mother. I met Cindy when we went to stay
with Heidi earlier this year.”
“Very pleased
to meet you both,” Granny Carter said as Cindy’s mother came over to join
us. “We’ve heard of this Heidi and your
trip, but it’s nice to meet one of the new friends our little girls made over
there.”
As the three
of them got talking, Granny and Dad took me to the door and I said thank you to
all the girls as they left. As Hazel and Claire left, Hazel said “See you
at gym class next week,” while Claire said “thanks for having us - you’re very
good at Blind Man’s Bluff.” She giggled
as they went with their mother, and I stood there, wondering what they meant by
that.
As Pippa left,
I saw Granny and Grandpa Carter putting on their coats. “We need to go now, dear,” she said as she
hugged and kissed me, “but we’ll see you at this party on New Year’s Eve that
we’re all going to. Perhaps you can wear
your new dress to that?”
I nodded,
hugging and kissing them both before they left.
As they walked down the path, I closed the door and looked at Cindy and
her mother.
“So,” I said
as I hugged her again, “You never told me.
Are you the only one here?”
Her mother
smiled as Granny said “Why don’t you go up to my room and have a look, dear -
your father is going to order some pizza, and I’ll call you down when it
comes. Jenny and Alicia are already up
there.”
Taking Cindy’s
hand, I ran up the stairs and into Granny’s bedroom. The first thing I saw was Jenny and Alicia
standing against the wall. Alicia had
her arms crossed in front of her, pulling the sleeves of her jumper up as her
skirt fell around her legs, while Jenny was quietly laughing.
I looked in
the direction she was looking, and there was Suzie, her eyes shining as she
looked at me. The bands of rope were
clearly visible on the velvet around her arms and tummy, and her wrists and
ankles were tightly secured together behind her back, while a band of rope had
been tied around her legs below her knees.
A band of white tape was wrapped around her mouth, and it was obvious
there was more below that.
“oh come on,”
I said out loud, “No way you two did this, that looks like…”
“She got it in
one,” a familiar voice said behind me as I felt my hands been drawn behind my
back, and the soft rope as it went round my wrists, and then around my
waist. A slim girl with shoulder length
brown hair stood in front of me, and said “Hi Cassie - open your mouth like a
good girl.”
“Nats! Heidi!
Hey hey the gangsalllnmmgmmgm” I said as Natalie pushed a folded cloth into my
mouth, and then tied a thin scarf between my lips. She was wearing a white jumper under a blue
denim dress, knee length socks and brown shoes.
“Happy
birthday,” she said as she tore the end of the roll of our special white tape
and wound it round my mouth and head, while Heidi passed some rope around my
arms and tummy and fixed them together.
As she turned me round, I saw my friend again, her short blonde hair
framing her face as she smiled at me.
“Mum and Aunt Veronica
are shopping in London,” she said as she helped me to sit down and she knelt in
front of me, the leather of her knee length black boots squeaking, “but they
dropped the three of us off while you were having your party. We had to hide away, but it was Mrs. Craig’s
idea to have the magician swap Cindy with Suzie.”
I watched
happily as she tied my ankles together, and then my legs below my knees, before
she helped me to lie on the bed and roll onto my side and placed me in a
hogtie. “We’ve got presents for you as
well, but we wanted to surprise you first.”
“After all,”
Natalie said as she began to tickle me and Suzie, “if you are anything like us,
no birthday is complete without a rope tie and a tickle.”
Well, of
course we’re like them, so Suzie and I did the only thing we could - giggled
like mad, especially when Alicia and Jenny joined in.
“Hold on - I
want a go too.”
Heidi, Natalie
and Cindy turned and looked at the young man standing in the doorway, looking
at us. “Guys,” Alicia said, “meet Robert
Holderness - Suzie’s brother. My cousin, and a typical teenage boy.”
“I prefer
Bobby,” Bobby said as he came in. “So
this is the famous Heidi Strong - I suppose you are the one I should thank for my
little sister been so interested in ropes and things.”
“A pleasure to
meet you too, Your Lordship,” Heidi said as she gave a little curtsey, her
shirt covering the waist of her jeans as she did so. Robert looked at her, took her hand and kissed
the back of it, before saying “You know, of course, that this means war?”
“Then you will
lose,” Natalie said as she walked behind Bobby, the two of us watching, “as you
always lose when you try to fight the good old U S of A.” Before he had a chance to react, her fingers had
started to attack his sides, and he crumpled to the floor in a heap, laughing
his head off. Alicia said quietly “Good
to see the Holderness name is in good hands,” before she and Jenny came over and
sat beside Suzie and me.
“Sshlnguhrffrr,”
I said as I looked at Cindy.
“Just for a
few days,” Cindy said as Bobby tried to crawl out of the way of both Heidi and
Natalie. “We fly back on Friday, and
school starts again on the 7th. But at least
we’ll be here for Suzie’s birthday as well.”
“Grrtstfff”
Suzie mumbled as she looked at Alicia, “wrrggnthfsmshfn.”
“So,” Jenny
said as she looked at Cindy, “any chance of you coming to visit between now and
then?”
“We’ll need to
check with our mums,” Cindy said, “I think they have a list of things they want
to do while we’re here - shows, shopping, stupid things like that. At the very least, the end of the year is
going to be an incredibly fun year - which reminds me.” She reached under the bed and pulled out a
parcel.
“Happy
birthday, Cassie,” she said as she reached over and gave me a hug, “You can
open it when you get home. It’s from all
three of us.”
I nodded and
smiled as the tickle fight raged, happy and contented for a while, until Cindy’s
mother appeared at the door.
“I think you
should let the girls go now,” she said with a smile, “The pizzas have been delivered.”
“All right
mum,” Cindy said as she reached down and started to untie the ropes around me. “I wonder if your pizzas are any good,”
Natalie said as she helped Bobby to stand up, and gave him a little kiss.
“Wait and
see,” I said as the cloth was pulled out of my mouth, “Wait and see…”
“All right,” Natalie
said as she took a bite of pepperoni, “It might not be as big, but it’s not
bad.”
We were all
gathered around in Granny’s back room, the adults talking with Mrs. Elsworth as
we girls all sat in a circle on the floor, open pizza boxes in front of us.
“We’re going
to have a great time on Monday,” Suzie said with a smile as she bit into a
slice of ham and pineapple, “I’m going to have my own party in the afternoon,
and then Grandma is having her annual party for the New Year.”
Mrs., Elsworth
looked at Mum and Dad and said “So is this party going to be a formal affair? I
don’t think I’ve got anything to wear if it is.”
“Not at all,”
Granny said with a smile, “Lucinda and Despond try not to stand too much on
ceremony that night. It’ll just be
family and friends - and of course, you are all invited.”
“I’m sure we
will all be delighted to come,” Mrs. Elsworth replied with a smile, “but I’m
not sure how I feel about meeting a real Lord.
I mean, Lady Holderness is a brave and strong woman, but…”
“But I’m still
just a country girl at heart?”
We all turned
to see Lord and Lady Holderness standing in the doorway. “Hi, grandma,” Alicia said as she stood up
and brushed some crumbs of crust off her skirt, “I thought dad was coming to
collect us.”
“Change of
plan,” she said with a smile. “Dorothy,
a pleasure to see you again, and the three young ladies as well. This is my husband, Desmond.”
“Charmed, Mrs.
Elsworth, Cindy,” Suzie’s granddad said as he came forward and shook their
hands. “I hope they have not been too
much trouble, Miranda?”
“Oh come on,
Desmond, you know they never are,” Granny said as she stood up, “but it is time
these girls were getting home. Cassie
has had a very long day.”
That reminded
me, as I pulled out the parcel Cindy had given me and opened it. Inside was a t-shirt, and as I opened it
there was a picture that had been taken when we had visited her printed on the
front. It showed Cindy and me waving at
the camera, and underneath it said “Friends Forever.”
“Thank you,” I
said as I hugged Cindy, and my eyes felt wet for some reason.
“Come on,
Poppet,” Dad said as he put his hand on my shoulder, “Let’s get you home. Dave, can you give me a hand with Cassie’s
presents?”
“Sure thing,” Uncle
Dave said as he stood up. “Dorothy, I’ll
give you and the girls a lift back to the hotel,” Aunt Cassie said, “I’d like
to talk to Amy and Veronica anyway.”
“Thanks,”
Cindy said as she hugged me. “I’ll see
you on Monday, Cass - try to stay untied until then.”
“I can’t
promise that,” I laughed back at her, “but with Grandma and Granddad Carter
here, I don’t get much of a chance anyway.”
“They don’t
know?”
“Not yet,” Mum
said as she came in with our coats, “and I don’t know if and when I’m going to
tell them. The way things go with this
family, however, I wouldn’t be surprised if they tumbled in on some of us with
our hands behind our back.”
“Is that an
invitation,” Dad said as he came in, only to put his hand to his mouth as Mum
shook her head from side to side. “Don’t
you dare,” she said, but she was smiling when she said it. “I just need to break the notion gently to
them.”
I was yawning
now, as I hugged everyone and put my coat on.
“Gnggt freen,” I mumbled as Dad picked me up and carried me to the car,
my eyes getting heavier all the time…
********
The weekend
was quiet, and then New Year’s Eve arrived.
I woke up before Jenny, and was walking down the stairs when I heard Mum
talking to Granddad Carter.
“Dad, why
didn’t you tell me what had happened?”
“Jennifer, I
didn’t want to frighten you. When they
were threatening your mother, my one concern, my one thought is how you would
feel when… Oh, good morning Cassie.”
“Morning, Mum,
Grandpa Carter,” I said as I padded in and went to the fridge. Mum was still in her dressing gown, while
Grandpa Carter was dressed in a shirt and pants. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t think
you need to know, little one,” Grandpa Carter said, and I could see his smile
was a little funny.
“But I want to
know,” I say as I sit down. “Mum and Dad
always say it’s better to talk about the bad things that happen - we did after
the men visited us that time and made us stay in bed over night. You know, Mum, when I hopped in and snuggled
next to you in the ropes and gag.”
Grandpa Carter
looked at me, and then at Mum.
“Jennifer? Is there something you
haven’t told me or your mother?”
“It’s all
right Grandpa,” I said as I picked up my glass, “Mum and Dad have played lots
of games since then, and it’s really helped us to cope. Hasn’t it Mum?”
I looked at
Mum, whose face had gone slightly paler than usual, and then at Grandpa Carter,
who was looking keenly at her. “Jennifer,”
he said quietly, “What do you want to say to me?”
“Do you
promise not to tell Mum?”
Grandpa Carter
nodded, so Mum began to explain everything that had happened over the last year
or so. The home invasions, the games,
the friends we had made - everything. He
just sat there, taking it all in, until Mum sat back and said “Does that make
you think we’re bad parents?”
“No - it makes
me think you want to protect the girls, so you did what you thought was right,”
he finally said, and then he looked at me.
“Cassie, so long as you are playing with friends, I have no problem, but
if anything bad happens you must tell someone, all right?”
“All right,
Grandpa,” I said with a smile, “but what happened to you and Grandma?”
“Well, little
one,” he said as he looked at me, “A few months ago, some very bad men broke
into our house, and tied both of us up before they took some things away. Your grandma was very shaken up by it, and
does not like to talk about it, so any talk of games where you get tied up or
anything else must not reach her ears.
Do you understand?”
I nodded and
said “So you keep our secret as well?
That’s great - but what will you tell Grandma Carter?”
“What Grandma
Carter does not know will not hurt her - I guess we’ll find a way sooner or
later.” He ruffled my head before saying
to Mum “You’re both great parents Jennifer - and I know Miranda has her eye on
both of you as well.”
“Thanks, Dad,”
Mum said as she walked over and kissed him on the forehead, her arms around her
neck. “As for you young lady -
breakfast, then you need to come with me and get the present for Suzie. She’s expecting you at her house by three
o’clock, and then you’re coming to the party with her family. All right?”
“All right,
Mum - what’s Jenny going to do today?”
“She’s going
to meet Alicia later, and she’ll come with her parents. The rest of us will join you there
later.” She put a bowl of cereal in
front of me, and they both watched as I started to eat my food…
Well, I
eventually bought a DVD collection of some television version of the Famous
Five, which we wrapped in gold paper and a funny card for Suzie. I then changed into my clothes for the party
- Mum had put out my blue trouser suit and a white t-shirt, as well as my black
ankle boots. Next to it on the bed was a
dress bag and my new shoes in a special bag as well.
“Time to go,
Poppet,” I heard Dad call up as I pulled on the jacket, and I ran down the
stairs, almost running into Aunt Cassie as she was trying to come up.
“Hey, hey,
slow down,” she said as she caught me, “If you want to stay awake until later,
you need to pace yourself.”
“Sorry, Aunt
Cassie,” I said as I slipped past her, “See you later.”
Dad was standing
at the bottom of the stairs. “Get
yourself in the car,” he said as he looked at me, “I’ll go and get the bags for
later.”
Jenny was
already sitting in the car, looking out of the window. “Ready for fun,” she said as she looked at
me, and I nodded in reply. “I’ll see
Heidi and Natalie at Alicia’s” she said with a smile, “so I’ll make sure to
give them your best wishes.”
“Sounds as if
you’re going to have fun,” I said as Dad put the bags in the back of the car,
and then climbed in the front. “Do you
think there’s going to be some games later?”
“Not if
Grandma Carter is able to see them,” Dad said as he looked over his shoulder at
both of us. “Mum told me about your
breakfast conversation today.”
“Oh,” I said
and I blushed as Jenny looked at me.
“Cassie, you idiot, you didn’t blurb out…”
“Don’t worry,”
Dad said as he started the car, “I trust your Granddad.” With that, he moved off into the street, and
into a very special day.
He stopped at
Alicia’s house first, and as Jenny go tout I saw both Heidi and Natalie waving from
the door. Heidi was wearing a pair of
jeans and a white jumper, while Natalie had a long skirt on with a blouse. I could see a rope bracelet around her bare
ankle as Jenny walked to the door, and then Cindy walking to the car.
“Thanks for
giving me a ride Mister Craig,” she said as she climbed in, putting a bag by
the back seat as she sat next to me. “I’m
looking forward to this party.”
“So am I,” I
said as I looked at Cindy. She had her
dark hair pulled back in a pigtail, and was wearing a blue denim bib dress over
a long sleeved white top, white tights and black Mary Jane shoes. “I hope she has some games planned.”
“She’s a
Holderness,” Cindy said quietly, “I guess it comes with the territory - but I
know what you mean.”
It didn’t take
us long to get to Suzie’s house, but it was Bobby who opened the door to
us. “Hi Cassie, Cindy,” he said with a
smile, “Let me take your bags.” Dad
handed Bobby the clothes bags, waved and walked off to the car.
“Where’s the
birthday girl,” I said with a smile. The
house was quiet, very quiet, as we stood in the hallway.
“I’ll take her
to you if you want,” Bobby said with a smile, as I saw the clock showed three
fifteen. “First, I need to do
something.” He held two woolen scarves
in his hand as he said this.
“Great -
blindfolds,” Cindy said as she winked at me, so we allowed him to tie the
scarves over our eyes, and then lead us up the stair case. He stopped us, and then said “Hands behind
your back please.”
I did so, and
then there was the familiar feeling of soft rope on my wrists as he tied them
tightly together, and then wrapped the rope around my waist to hold them
against my back. Cindy said “Oh - you’re
good,” before there was a muffled gasp.
That was a sound I knew well, as was the ripping/squelching sound that
followed, and sure enough I felt a cloth pushed into my mouth and the special
tape pressed over my mouth.
There was the
sound of a door opening, and we were walked in, before I felt Bobby pressing
down on my shoulder and helping me to sit down.
There was then another hand in mine as I felt Cindy sit behind me, and
rope going round our arms. It reminded
me so much of the night in Maine that I almost smiled, as I felt my ankles and
legs been tied together.
“Your first
guests are here, sis,” I heard Bobby say, and then the blindfold was pulled off
my head. I blinked, and then saw Suzie
sitting in a chair in front of me, laughing over the knotted scarf that was sitting
between her lips.
She had her
arms tied tightly down on the armrests of the chair, and she was swinging her
ankles to and fro, the grey rope visible over her white socks. Her black leather shoes squeaked as she
rubbed them together. Suzie had on a
black jumper and skirt, with a sliver necklace over the rolled neck of the jumper.
The big
surprise was that her mother was sitting in a chair next to her, smiling at us
over the red scarf that was pulled between her lips. She was wearing a blue smock top over some
black leggings, and a pair of blue slippers.
She was also tied securely to the chair, but in her case there was a
single length of rope under her tummy, as opposed to the bands of rope holding
Suzie in place.
“I told you
I’d get them to join you,” Bobby said with a smile as he hugged Mrs.
Holderness. “I’ll come and free you in
half an hour if they can’t get out, so that you can greet your guests. I need to help Dad to finish setting the room
up.”
“Glsucldccmmgrls,”
Suzie’s mum said through her gag as I looked at the bands of rope around my
legs and body. Bobby had done a good job
on my legs, cinching them between my ankles and knees, but he had only loosely
tied me to Cindy, which meant I had a chance to wriggle free.
Cindy has
realized this as well as she mumbled “nfre” to me. I nodded, squeezed her hand and counted to
three in my head, before I pushed down with my feet on the floor. She did the same as we stood up, the ropes
wriggling down our bodies as we shook ourselves.
“Utkszzemm,
lltkhr,” I mumbled as Cindy hopped round to face the others. We both hopped round to the chairs, and knelt
down so that Suzie and her mother could pick at the tape that was covering our
mouths.
It only took
Suzie five minutes to manage to peel the tape away, as I spat out the
handkerchief and looked at the rope around her wrist. “No problem - and happy birthday,”
“Fnks,” Suzie
said as I worked on the knot with my teeth, and Cindy did the same to Suzie’s
mother. It only took another five
minutes to free their arms, and they were able to untie our arms so that we
could free each other.
The clock was
just striking four when we all walked downstairs, to meet Mr. Holderness at the
foot of the stairs. “Excellent timing,”
he said with a smile as he hugged Suzie’s mother, and the front doorbell rang,
“Time to greet your guests, Suzie.”
Now, I had no
idea what Suzie’s party was going to be like - I mean, she was one of my
bestest friends, but she was also a member of one of the richest families in
the town, so what exactly was going to happen?
What I had forgotten, of course, was that her mum and dad had been
determined to give her as normal a life as possible, so when some of her school
friends arrived and gave her presents, I quickly realized that any special
games were going to be kept for later that night.
That’s not to
say we didn’t have similar games to those at my party - Suzie in particular had
‘borrowed’ my version of Blind Man’s Bluff, and when it came to playing musical
chairs Mr. Holderness had an interesting twist, where he tied our wrists behind
our backs with ribbons to make it harder to put our hands on the chairs. I thought back to when we played a similar
game at Jenny’s party - but of course that time we were hopping round rather
than walking.
One of the
really strange things, however, was when I was introduced as Miss Craig’s
niece. Not because it was funny to hear
Aunt Cassie talked of in this way, but because they all said what a great
teacher she was. It made me see a new
side of her - not just as my brave, if slightly funky, aunt but as someone the
other kids liked.
Bobby helped
out with the games as well, as did a second lad who arrived during the games -
Colin. He had been dropped off by his
mum and dad, who were also coming to the party later on, and he seemed to take
a lot of interest in Cindy, bringing her drinks and so on. I was beginning to think he had a little bit
of a crush on my dark haired friend - but my thoughts were interrupted by
Suzie’s mum calling us to the birthday tea.
And that was
when you remembered how well off Suzie was - when you saw the cakes on little
silver stands, and the plates were china.
I carried mine very carefully to a corner and sat next to Cindy, talking
about things, when Robert came over. He
had a tray of glasses in his hands, with a clear liquid in them that was fizzing.
“Here,” he
said as he held the tray forward, “Take one each. We’re going to sing Happy Birthday in a
minute and toast Suzie as she blows out the candles.”
“What’s in
this,” I asked as I took the glass.
“Champagne -
with a little lemonade added,” Bobby said, and he actually winked at us when he
said this. “I hope you like it.”
Well, Cindy
took a glass, and so did I, and a few minutes later we all stood round and sang
Happy Birthday as Mrs. Holderness brought in a huge cake with 11 candles on
it. Suzie took a deep breath, and then
blew out all the candles before Bobby raised his glass and said “To Suzie.”
“To Suzie,” we
all said and I took a little sip. I’d
never had champagne before, even with lemonade, and the bubbles went up my nose
a little bit. It made me sneeze - and I
wasn’t the only one.
Then we gave
Suzie our presents, and I was glad to see I had thought along the right
lines. She got lots of CDs and DVDs, as
well as some money and cards. I did
wonder what her mum and dad had got her, but I was sure I was going to find out
later.
As we sat
round looking at Suzie, Colin slipped up behind me and said “Hey Cassie -
where’s your big sister?”
“At Alicia’s
place - and I’m surprised she’s not here.”
“Nah - she
wanted to spend some time with the girls,” Bobby said, “We’ll see her
later. Why, Colin - something you’d like
to say to her”?
“No, no - just
curious as to where she was,” he said as he walked away, but I could see he was
blushing slightly. “Has he got a crush
on your sister,” Cindy leaned over and whispered in my ear, “or is he just very
easy to embarrass?”
I laughed, but
I did wonder why he had asked that question.
Cindy just nudged me in the ribs as we both heard music starting -
Suzie’s dad had hired a DJ to play some songs for the last hour of her party,
as we danced in her front room.
Still, it had
to end at some time, and by 6.15 she was thanking and seeing off the last of
her guests. As the door closed, Mr.
Holderness looked at the five of us standing there, and then looked at his
watch.
“Right,” he
said quietly, “you all have thirty minutes to get changed into your outfits for
tonight. I need you down here at 6.45,
or we are going to be late.”
We rushed up
the stairs, Cindy and I going with Suzie while Colin went with Bobby. Opening
the clothes bag, I took out the green dress and put it on, before pinning the
little gold brooch to the top.
“Nice brooch,”
Cindy said as she looked at it, “a gift from a friend?”
I felt myself
blush at that, as I watched Cindy putting on something similar to what I had
been wearing - only her jacket and trousers were light brown, and she wore a
black top underneath. As for Suzie, she
said “Can you help me Cassie?” as she put on a black slip dress, and added a
pair of elbow length matching gloves.
As I pulled
the zip up, I saw there was a gold chain around her neck, and as she turned
round I saw it was a locket, with a large red stone in the middle. “Mum and Dad’s present to me,” she said with
a smile, “do you like it?”
“It’s
gorgeous,” I said as I lifted it up to look at the deep crimson jewel in the
light. “Is it real?”
“They say it
is - and I’m only allowed to wear it today.”
As she said this, the door opened, allowing Bobby and Mr. Holderness to
come in. Both of them were wearing white
shirts with bow ties, black jackets and trousers, and shiny leather shoes.
“Right girls,”
Mr. Holderness said as he put a bag in Suzie’s bed, “We have specific
instructions as to how you are to be brought to the Manor tonight, so turn
round, and hands behind your back.”
“Great,” Suzie
said as she clapped her hands, “but how are we going to be able to walk down
the driveway to the car?”
“You’ll see,”
Bobby said as he started to tie my wrists together, hands palm to palm behind
my back. He passed the rope around them
four times, then cinched the coils between my wrists and tied it off. Taking a small length of cord, he then tied
my thumbs together, before securing them to my waist in the usual way. Looking over I could see Mr. Holderness doing
the same to Cindy, before he crossed the glove covered wrists of Suzie and
started to bind her.
“”Right,” he
then said as we all turned round, “open your mouths wide as you can.” We all did so, allowing them to push a small
sponge ball into each of our mouths, and then cover them with tape that was the
same colour as our skin. It stuck like
the special tape I love, but looking at each other it just looked as if we had
lost our lips.
“Soon fix
that,” Mr. Holderness said as he took some lipstick, and traced over the lips
eh could see through the tape. Once
done, he walked the three of us down the stairs, where Colin and Mrs.
Holderness were waiting. They helped to
fasten our coats over us, which hid the rope around our waists, and then we
walked down to their car.
“Back seat
girls,” Bobby said as we sat down and he buckled us in. Colin and Bobby then sat in front of us -
Colin had on a smart blue suit with a light blue shirt and a dark tie - and
then Mr. and Mrs. Holderness in the front seat.
The drive to
Holderness Manor took about half an hour, and as we drove up the by now
familiar tree lined avenue I glanced at Cindy, suddenly remembering this was
the first time she had visited the place.
Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she saw the Manor appearing, and as
Mr. Holderness drove to the kitchen door she turned and looked at me.
“Tssgrnd,” I
mumbled through the tape gag as Mrs. Bridges came out and opened the door. “Good Evening, Master Alexander,” she said as
Suzie’s dad joined her, “May I suggest the rear staircase? The guests are arriving at the front, and Her
Ladyship would prefer they not see the girls as they are just now.”
“Fair enough,”
he said as Bobby helped us out of the car and through the kitchen. Normally, we would have walked down the
corridor and up the main staircase, but as our coats were removed from us we
were surprised by scarves been tied over our eyes.
“Just let us
lead you,” Bobby whispered into my ear as we were taken by the arm and helped
to walk up a flight of stairs, and then along what I presumed was the hallway
upstairs. I then heard Angela saying “Ah
- I see the others have arrived. You
need to take care of something first.”
The next thing
I knew I could feel more rope been tied over my arms and tummy, winding around
them to lock my arms into place, and I just had to assume the others were
getting the same thing. Then I heard a door open, and a hand on my
arm as we walked forward.
“Sit them down
on the beanbags,” Angela said, and I guessed we were in the playroom as I was
helped to sit on a comfy cushion. I then
felt my ankles been pulled together, before whoever had tied my feet folded the
hem of my skirt back and tied my legs together below the knees, and then folded
it back again.
“We’ll come
and collect you in a little while,” Angela said, “when Grandpa and Grandma have
welcomed all the guests. First,
though…” I turned my head as I heard
both Bobby and Colin give muffled grunts, and had to stop myself from laughing
- I had a fair idea of what was going on.
Eventually,
the scarves ere pulled off our eyes and I blinked - but the first thing I saw
was Bobby and Colin, looking a tad cross as they sat on the floor, their arms
tied tightly to their sides, their legs secured, and tape over their mouths.
“Nsnsfutjns,”
I heard Alicia mumble next, and looking over I saw her, Jenny, Heidi and
Natalie sitting in a row. Jenny was
wearing the dress she had been given for her birthday, while Alicia had on a
black velvet party dress with capped sleeves.
The skirt came to just below her knees, with her legs in a pair of dark
tights and her feet in black velvet shoes.
Heidi was
wearing a floral print dress, with sleeves that came to just above her elbows,
white tights and white shoes, while Natalie was wearing a light blue pinafore
dress over a white blouse. Her feet were
bare, but like the others she had her ankles crossed and tied tightly together,
with rope around her lower legs.
They had
obviously had their upper bodies tied the same way we had - and from the way
Jenny was looking to the side, we were not the only ones in the room, so I
looked in that direction.
Mary and Cathy
were sitting in two chairs, their eyes wide as they tried not to laugh into
their taped mouths. They had been tied
to the chairs, their ankles together and secured to one of the front legs. Mary had on a pink dress with a square
collar, while Cathy was wearing a long Victorian style dress with a high
collar. I could see out of the corner of
my eye the way Cindy was looking at her - I knew she had in the past dressed in
the same way.
“Wlwhttrwgngtdnw,”
Jenny said as she looked at us. It was
obvious we were the most mobile of the group, but if truth be told I was very
comfortable with the way we were, so I said “nfnk” and leaned back in the beanbag
I was sitting on, enjoying the time we were having.
A time which
came to an end all too quickly, as Granny came into the room and looked at
us. “Well, now,” she said as she looked
around the room, “I suppose I could leave you all here all night to enjoy the
silence, but…”
“NNNNNNNNNN”
we called out in unison, so she came over and untied Mary and Cathy, before
saying “If you can help me to untie the others, then I can take you down to the
grand hall. There is a game to be played
that you are all part of.”
Ten minutes
later, we were all rubbing our wrists and giving each other hugs as Granny
stood by the door. “Now then,” she said
quietly, “Line up and follow me.” We all
made an Indian line behind her and walked down the staircase,
The Grand Hall
was decorated with balloons and banners, and a group of people were around the
side, some of whom I knew, some I did not.
I could see Cathy’s Mother standing with Lord Holderness and Mary’s dad,
and Grandpa Carter with Dad. I then
heard Jenny gasp, and I looked to the centre of the room.
I could see
Mum, Mrs. Holderness, Mrs. Bowden - in fact, all the mothers and aunts standing
in a line, with scarves tied over their eyes as blindfolds. The big surprise, however, was Grandma Carter
standing next to Mum, obviously a little worried as she tried to turn her
head. I had no idea how she had been
persuaded to do that, until Lady Holderness spoke.
“Ladies,” she
said loudly, “The children are now here.
Your task is simple - find your son, daughter, niece, nephew,
granddaughter - whatever, but do so without you or them speaking. If you can find one and identify them, you
may remove the blindfold.”
She then
winked at us as we stood in a line in front of the women.
“Ready? Go!”
Cathy’s mum
was the first to move off, the hem of her peasant skirt swishing as she stepped
forward and held her arms out and tried to grab someone - anyone.
“Watch your
step, Belinda - you may trip over your skirt,” her other mother said as she
looked on from the side. Mrs. Harmer
nodded and said “I’ll be fine,” right before she stumbled and fell into the
arms of a tall, black haired man who had caught her.
“Nice catch,
Dad,” Colin called from the side, and I realized he must be DCI Hampton,
Colin’s father. I knew Mum and Dad, as
well as Granny, had met him, but this was the first time I’d ever seen him up
close.
The next
person who caught my eye was Alicia’s mother.
She had on a long blue dress, which allowed the bump that was visible at
her tummy now to be covered, as she managed to grab Alicia at the first
attempt. “How on earth did you manage
that,” Alicia said with a slight pout.
“You need to
change the perfume you wear,” her mother said with a smile, as I watched Heidi
and Natalie lead their mothers, along with Cindy and hers, to one side of the
room, where they sat and talked. I
wondered what was going on, and why they felt they had to go to one side.
“Perhaps,” a
familiar voice said behind me, “They need to decide whether or not to tell us
something.”
“APRIL!” I squealed
as I span round and hugged our babysitter.
I hadn’t seen her for a while, as I buried my face into the black silk
blouse she was wearing and hugged her tightly.
“Good to see
you too squirt,” she said as she held me by the shoulders and looked at me,
just as Mum caught Jenny and Grandma Carter at the same time, hugging both of
them. “You’ve grown so much - you look
like an eleven year old now.”
I looked at
her, standing there in a black skirt that matched her blouse, and flat
shoes. “Mummy said you had gone to
study,” I eventually said, “Are you enjoying it?”
“I am
actually,” April said with a smile, “and I’ve made a few new friends. How about you - I hear you have failed to
stay out of trouble?”
I blushed and
said “Not true - it just tends to find us.
Are you here on your own?”
“For now, yes
- by the way,” Aprils aid as she bent over and whispered into my ear, “Watch
out for Angela - I think she and her grandmother are planning something.”
“When are they
not,” I giggled in reply as Grandma Carter came over. “You must be April,” she said as she came
closer, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”
“And you Mrs.
Carter,” April said as she shook Grandma’s hand. “How are you enjoying your stay so far?”
“It’s been
very interesting,” she said with a smile, “and so was that game. I haven’t played something like that since I
was a young girl.”
“Were you
scared, Grandma,” I said as a small band started to play music at one end of
the room. Grandma Carter looked at me
and then said “At first, but I was a brave girl.”
“Just like you
were,” April said as she put her hand on my shoulder, “when those men stayed
the night.”
“Men? What men?”
Grandma Carter looked at April, then at me - as I realized that just for
once, I was not the person who had not blurted out a secret. Taking her by the hand, I walked with her to
where Mum and Granny were talking.
“Jennifer,”
Grandma Carter said as she walked over, “What does that young lady April mean
about men staying the night?” Mum looked
at me as I shook my head, while Granny put her hand round Grandma Carter’s
shoulders.
“June,” Granny
said quietly, “why don’t you come with the three of us and I’ll tell you what
happened.” We went off to the far side
of the room, passing Lady Holderness as she said to Heidi and Cindy’s mothers
“Well, I am surprised, but I am glad you are both happy.”
Dad looked at
us as we went past, as did Grandpa Carter, but Mum shook her head as we found a
quiet corner and sat down. “Well, June,”
Granny started, “I guess we need to start with the first robbery…”
An hour later,
Grandma Carter was sitting, her skin a little pale as she looked at the three
of us. “Oh my god,” she finally
whispered, “I thought what George and I had been through was terrifying, but
you…” She looked at me and said
“Cassandra, you must have been terrified.”
“I was at
times,” I said quietly, “but I think of it as a game, and we never really got
hurt - upset, yes, but hurt no.”
“Jennifer,”
she then said as she looked at Mum, “You let them play these games?”
“Yes, mum,” my
mum replied, “because it helps them to cope - it helps us all to cope. If they know what happens, then it is easier
for them if something does go wrong.”
“June,” Dad
said as I looked up to see him and Grandpa Carter standing there. “George told me what happened, and I know the
thought still frightens you. I don’t expect
you to understand right off, but believe me when I say it has helped. Especially with the Pearl of Great Wisdom
business.”
Granny had
been very silent up till now, but she took Grandma Carter by the hand. “Let me get you a drink,” she said as the two
of them walked off, “I think Lucinda may have an idea that will help you…”
“Is she going
to be all right,” Grandpa Carter said as he looked at them walking off. “Give her time,” Mum said as she put her hand
on his shoulder, “She’ll come round - and if I know Lady Holderness, she will
have something planned.”
Dad looked at
his watch. “Ten o’clock already -
Cassie, find the others and get something to eat. Your mum and I are going to dance.” I smiled as they walked off, and then ran
over to where the others had gathered.
“Don’t worry
about them,” Cathy was saying as I came up, “I’ve lived with that all my life,
and it helps you know who your real friends are.” I could see she was talking to Cindy and
Heidi when she said this.
“What’s
happening,” I asked Jenny, who was standing next to Natalie.
“I’ll tell you
later,” Jenny said as she looked at me, “What’s up with Grandma Carter?”
“She knows,” I
said as I took a glass of apple juice from Mrs. Bridges, and then had a
sip. “We told her everything.”
“Ouch,” Bobby
said as he stood behind me, “That must have come as a shock to her.”
“At least,”
Jenny said as she looked at Grandma Carter and Granny talking to Lady Holderness. “Seems to be a night for surprises all round
- I saw you talking to April earlier.”
“Yeah - nice
to see her,” I said as Heidi came over.
“I finally get to give you a hug,” she said as she wrapped her arms
round me, the smile on her face as big as the blonde hair that was falling
round her shoulders.
“I see you
grew your hair out again,” Alicia said, “It suits you that way.”
“Thanks,” she
said as Cindy came over. The band had
started to play some sort of Scottish dance music, and I laughed as I saw Dad
trying to dance with Aunt Cassie.
“Would you
like to try?”
I was
surprised to see Bobby hold his hand out to me, but I smiled as I took it and
he led me out. I was even more surprised
when Colin took Jenny by the hand and led her out as well.
“What am I
meant to do,” I said as Bobby stood by me.
“Just follow my lead,” he said as the music started, and we set
off. Turned out he was actually quite a
good dancer, as we turned and clapped at the right moments. I must have smiled, because he smiled right
back at me, and I felt a funny warm feeling in my cheeks.
Alicia’s mum
and dad were sitting at the side, watching with interest as we moved around the
floor, and Aunt Connie and Uncle Dave were sitting there as well. Her white blouse was slightly open at the
bottom as she smiled at us.
Aunt Cassie
was standing a little way off, dressed in a green and gold Indian dress, and
talking quietly to Colin’s father. She
looked at me and smiled, as I found myself been twirled round and running out
of breath.
“Please,” I eventually
said, “I need a drink.”
“Of course,”
Bobby said as he bowed to me, and then walked me back to the table. Cindy nudged me as I sat down and said “He
likes you - you know that don’t you?”
“What time is
it,” I said as I took a bite out of a small egg tart.
“Believe it or
not,” Bobby said as he looked at his watch, “It’s 11.15. Only forty five minutes to the new year.”
“Ladies and
Gentlemen…”
We looked up
to see Lord Holderness standing in front of the band.
“First of all,
thank you all for coming to celebrate the New Year with us. When Big Ben strikes midnight, there is going
to be a firework display outside, which will begin right after we drink a
toast. I’m going to invite the children
to come upstairs and sit on the balcony, and ask them to bring one of their
female relatives with them to sit with them.
I only ask that you do not pick a mother or aunt who is expecting.”
“Girls - we
will be coming with you.”
I turned to
see Granny and Grandma Carter standing behind me, with Jenny holding Granny’s
hand.
“All right,” I
said as I stood up, “but what about Mum?”
“She’s going
to stay down here with Grandpa,” Grandma Carter said. “This is something I have to do for myself -
and I want you to be with me, Cassie.”
“You called me
Cassie,” I said with a giggle. She
smiled and said “Yes, I did - come on.”
She took my hand and we left the room, along with Cindy, Heidi and
Natalie, who had their mother’s hand in theirs.
Granny was
wearing a dark blue coat dress with black shoes, while Grandma Carter was
wearing a white jumper and cardigan with a pair of tan trousers. Heidi and Cindy’s mothers were both wearing
black trousers and white blouses with waistcoats, while Veronica had on a black
wool dress and knee length boots.
As we were
taken upstairs, we joined the others in the hallway. Cathy had brought her other mother, who was
wearing a gent’s three piece suit with a blue blouse and a dark tie, while Mary
had her mother with her as well. She
looked a little nervous, taking off and cleaning her glasses every few seconds.
“Relax mum,”
Mary said as she put her arms round her green dress and hugged her, “It will be
fun.”
Alicia was
with Lady Holderness, while Suzie had her mother by the hand. Mrs. Holderness was wearing a silver grey sleeveless
dress that came to just above her ankles, with grey leather shoes.
“What about
Bobby and Colin,” I said as they came in with Dad, Uncle Dave and Mr.
Holderness.
“They are
going to help us,” Lord Holderness said as he opened a door, shall we go in?”
I had never
been in this room before, which was a long thin one with windows along one
side. A row of chairs was set out in
front of the windows. “Right then,” he
said as the door closed, “Will the older ladies please take a seat?”
As our mothers
and grandmothers went to sit down, Bobby and Colin knelt in front of each of
them, and using a roll of white tape they secured their ankles together, and
then to the left hand front leg of each chair.
I watched Grandma Carter as Bobby did this to her, who was looking down
nervously.
“Don’t worry,
June,” Granny said as Colin did the same to her, “It will be fun.”
“Now then,”
Lord Holderness said, “Come and sit on the lap of your partner.” I walked over and jumped onto Grandma
Carter’s lap, saying “Don’t worry - this is easy” as I did so. Granny nodded as well as Jenny sat on her
lap, then we both watched as Bobby and Colin put our hands together in front of
us, palm to palm, and taped our wrists together.
“Now,” Lord
Holderness said as he and Suzie’s father took a roll of white tape each,
“Partners, give your girls a hug and hold their hands in yours.”
I looked down
as Grandma Carter held my small hands in her large ones, while Lord Holderness
took the tape and secured her wrists to my arms, and then covered her hands in
tape. “I like this” I said as I looked
up and snuggled into her chest, wondering what else was going to happen.
That answer
came quickly, as Bobby knelt in front of me and Grandma Carter to tape my
ankles together. “Are you all right,
Grandma,” I said as I looked back up at her - I had heard her catch her breath
as the tape went round my legs.
“It’s just new
for me - to volunteer to do this,” she replied as she looked at Granny.
“The secret,”
Granny said with a smile, “is to just relax and go with the flow - you’re
perfectly safe here June, as long as young Cassandra agrees to sit still.”
“Awww,” I said
as I wriggled a little more to get comfy, and rest against Grandma.
“Your choice,
Cassie - cloth or tape?”
I looked at
Lord Holderness as he stood there, with a roll of white tape in one hand and
several scarves in the other.
“You’re going
to stop us talking,” Grandma Carter said, and this time I could hear a little
fear in her voice.
“Desmond,”
Granny said beside me, “tie a folded scarf over my mouth first. June needs to see that it is not something to
be afraid of.”
I had hoped
we’d have one of my special gags, but looking down the line I could see Mary’s
mother looking rather nervously at her hands taped over Mary’s. It reminded me that despite everything we had
done this year, the fun, the games and the more serious stuff, we were once
nervous as well.
I looked as
Lord Holderness folded a large grey headscarf into a wide band, and tied it
over Granny’s mouth tightly. As he
fastened the knot, she turned and said to Grandma “ceeejn, thrsnfngtbfrdf.”
“All right,”
Grandma said as she smiled at me, “Do it.”
“Just breathe
normally,” Lord Holderness said as he folded a blue scarf and tied it over
Grandma’s mouth. Her eyes widened
slightly, but then she looked at me and nodded as I said “Could I have some
tape please?”
“Of course,”
Lord Holderness said as he passed the tape to Bobby. I watched as he tore off a strip, and then
did something totally unexpected - he gave me a little kiss, said “Thank you
for wearing the brooch” and then pressed the tape over my mouth.
I looked over
at Jenny, who was smiling as Colin pressed some tape over her mouth, then turned
back to look out of the window as we heard the music from downstairs.
“COUNTDOWN!” I
heard the band leader say, “in Ten… Nine… Eight…”
“Svn,” Cathy
called out, then Mary said “cix.” “Fv,”
Heidi, Cindy and Natalie called in unison.
“Frr,” Suzie
shouted out from her mother’s lap.
“Freee,”
Alicia called from her grandmother’s lap.
“Tooo,” Jenny
said as she looked at me with her eyes wide open.
“Nnnnn,” I
called out and then we heard a huge shout of “HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!”
“Hpynwyr, Jn,”
Granny said as she turned and looked at us.
“Ndtumrnd,”
Grandma replied as the fireworks started to go off - and such fireworks! Huge bursts of gold, green and red filled the
dark sky as we watched, amazed at the display and the sound.
We could see
Catherine wheels spinning on the grounds, and bursts of sound as rockets exploded
into the night sky, filling it with showers of brightly colored sparks and
streamers. We could hear the band
playing Old Long Sign downstairs, and everyone cooing and clapping at the
display.
I put my head
into Grandma’s chest, and felt her rubbing her chin on my hair, as I enjoyed
the show. Only once the last ember of
red had gone out did the two boys come along and remove all our gags, and then
release us from the chairs so that we could go back downstairs.
“Did you enjoy
that, Grandma,” I said as I got off Grandma Carter’s lap and let her stand up.
“Do you know,
Cassie,” she said as she hugged me, “I think I did. I guess you girls - all of you - have a few
things you can teach this old girl.”
“One step at a
time, June,” Granny said as she put her arm round Grandma’s shoulder. We went back downstairs and entered the
party, where April saw us and came over.
“I’m really
really sorry,” she said as she looked at Jenny and me, “Have I caused any
trouble with your grandmother?”
“It’s all
right,” Jenny said, “She knows now, so we can stop trying to keep it a secret
from her. She’s a lot like you, April.”
“She is,”
April said as she looked at our grandmothers, “How?”
“She had a bad
experience,” I said, “and we helped her to start to get over it. Can we have a drink please?”
“Of course you
can,” Dad said as he brought two glasses over of fizzy stuff. “Happy new year, girls.”
“Happy new
year, Dad,” we both said before we took a sip.
The bubbles went right up my nose, and I almost coughed, but Dad held me
and said “Just sip it - a special treat.”
We nodded and
walked to the side, where Alicia was with Heidi, Cindy and Natalie.
“Do you have
to go back the day after tomorrow,” she said as we came closer.
“Yeah,”
Natalie said, “We have to get back to school as well. Pity - you guys know how to throw a party!”
“Yeah,” Cindy
said, “Beats going to the Church Social at least.”
“I wish we’d
had more time to be a group together,” I said, and I really meant it. Cindy smiled and said “Well, Alicia has said
you can come round to her house for tea tomorrow, so maybe we can have a bit of
fun then.”
I liked that
idea, as I suddenly started to yawn.
“You’re not
the only one,” Alicia said as I looked over and saw Suzie yawning and
stretching as well. “I guess you just
don’t have the stamina for a long night.”
“Could beat
you any day of the….” I started to say before I found myself yawning
again. Mum put her hand on my shoulder
and said “I think we need to get you home, young lady.”
“Llrgith mum,”
I said as my eyes started to get heavy again.
“See you Suzie and thanks again…”
“See you
tomorrow Cassie,” Suzie said as I waved at her, then went with Mum, Jenny
following behind….
********
I don’t
remember that much between then and waking up at nearly midday the next
afternoon. Mum had lunch laid out, and
then Dad drove Jenny and me round to Alicia’s house, where - well, that’s a
story for another day.
It was the
Thursday afternoon when I heard Grandma Carter downstairs with Granny.
“HI Mum, June,”
Dad said, “What brings you over this afternoon?”
“Well,” I
heard Grandma Carter say, and then - nothing.
I looked over at Jenny, who shrugged her shoulders, then at Mum. She shook her head from side to side, then we
all watched the bedroom door.
After a little
while, we heard footsteps, and then the door opened. “In here,” Dad said, “You can join the
others.”
As we looked
up, Granny and Grandma Carter walked in, their hands behind their backs and
bands of rope tied around their waists and their tummies. Grandma Carter was wearing a pink long
sleeved blouse under a grey sleeveless top, and grey trousers, with a pair of
bright pink pointy shoes on her feet.
Granny had on a cream colored jumper and cardigan, and a knee length
tweed skirt, with a pair of brown suede boots on her legs.
“Hllmm,
mrnda,” Mum said from her position on the wooden seat that sat in front of her
dressing table. A band of rope was around
her waist to hold her to the chair back, and her wrists were crossed and tied
together in front of her, the rope visible over her mustard colored
blouse. They were also tied down to her
legs over the dark leggings she had on, and her ankles were tied together over
the tan colored leather knee length boots she was wearing.
As for me and
Jenny, we were lying on our tummies on the big bed. Jenny was wearing a green t-shirt over her long
sleeved black top, a denim skirt, black leggings and her brown Ugg boots, while
I had on a white jumper and a pair of jeans, the legs of which were tucked into
a pair of black felt boots. We both had
a pair of socks taped over our hands, while our wrist were crossed and lashed
tightly together behind our backs, before they were tied down to our waists. We had our arms tied tightly our sides with
rope around them and our tummies, while our ankles - well, my ankles, and
Jenny’s legs above her boots - were tied tightly together, as were our legs
below our knees. We had our legs bent,
and there was a rope from my ankles, and Jenny’s legs, to the one around our
tummies.
All three of
us had a piece of sponge in our mouths, with a knotted length of toweling tied
between our lips, and we could see the same thing had been done to Granny and
Grandma Carter. As they were sat on the
floor by the window, Granny winked at us as Dad started to tie her ankles and
legs together with more rope.
“Sthsswhttgmslk,”
Grandma Carter said as Dad knelt beside her and started to tie her ankles
together over the cuffs of her trousers, “cnssstsrlxng.”
“Ystssss,”
Granny said as Mum nodded, watching as Dad finished tying her legs together,
and then picked up the roll of tape. He
tore two lengths off, and smoothed one over their mouths, their lips visible
underneath.
Ours weren’t -
Dad had tied a folded scarf around our heads, to hide the fact he had wrapped
the tape all the way round. I guessed
that he wasn’t ready to do the same to Grandma Carter, and Granny was playing
along.
“Right,” Dad
said as he stood up, and kissed Granny on the forehead, “I need to go and
deliver the ransom demands. Don’t go
anywhere.”
“Sfwcld,”
Jenny said as she looked up at him, but I could tell she was smiling. Mum looked at Grandma Carter, and mumbled
“stsurde?”
“Ysss,”
Grandma replied as she nodded her head.
“Tstmtmistpdbnfrd.” We all nodded
in response to that - after all, it’s not fun when you’re afraid, is it?
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