Marie McDonald first came to our notice in "The Disappearance of WPC Drummond". In that story she was interviewed after being hijacked and dumped, bound and gagged of course, out in the country. It happened just before the hapless WPC had a similar experience in much more detail. In that story Marie mentioned having moved "down here" to get away from that sort of thing. Here is some of "that sort of thing". Hopefully the first of three chapters.

Marie's Motoring Misadventures, chapter 1

The first time that Marie McDonald became the victim of criminal activity was in 1974. She was 28, divorced, and she had been employed as a driver by the vehicle hire company for two years. She had been happily married, or so she thought, but that had all gone wrong, and now she was working for her uncle's firm. She had thrown herself into this job very enthusiastically, wanting to demonstrate to one and all that she hadn't only got the job because she was family. She was punctual to the point of obsession, and her uniform was as well pressed as a sergeant major in the military could wish for. It was Uncle Hector's vision, that his staff was chauffeurs working for a limousine hire business, not mere taxi drivers. Marie was happy to comply. When she was driving, she always wore a freshly pressed, just-above-the-knee skirt and jacket, her crisp white blouse buttoned at collar and cuffs and her tie was always smartly knotted .She hadn't been doing the job long before she was aware that a well-endowed lady in uniform turned a lot of male heads.

It wasn't as if her job was exciting, though, she did the same journeys every week without much variety. The wages run for Bolton and Farr Chemicals was one of these, every Friday morning. She left the garage at 8.30, collected Mr George Fletcher and Mr Arnold Walker (two men in their fifties who she found uncommunicative and boring), drove from the industrial estate to the bank five miles away and waited in the car park while he collected the firms wages .Then an equally boring drive back to the factory, where the two men were dropped off. By then it would be 10.30, and Marie then headed off to another workplace. It was Faulkner Bros. Printers, for another wage pickup. There she picked up accountant Rodney Warner and his assistant Penny Duncan, took them to the bank, and later brought them back with the firms wage packets. The difference was that Marie got on well with Penny, who, at thirty, had more in common with her.

On this September morning, Marie had no reason to think this would be different to every other Friday morning. As she alighted from her Vauxhall Victor in the Bolton and Farr car park and rang the bell at the reception door, she didn't notice two pairs of eyes watching her.

The man with the binoculars studies the uniformed woman for a minute or two. I could fancy her, he thought. A blue eyed brunette, collar-length black hair fashionably backbrushed. Her figure was pleasingly full, and he liked something to get hold of. She wore a uniform consisting of dark blue blazer and skirt that didn't quite reach her knees, over a crisp white shirt with a neatly knotted dark blue tie. Black low heeled shoes completed the outfit. Her look made him think of a Wren's uniform, and he momentarily thought back a couple of years, to when they had pulled off a robbery at a Royal Navy cigarette warehouse. A nice easy job in an empty building. Then three Wrens had walked in on them, come to stocktake. Hm, they would have had some discrepancies to report, once someone found them and untied them.

She was the same lady who did this run every week. They had done their homework and they knew Marie McDonald's routine. They were going to get rich today, but dealing with her was going to be a bonus. "Look at that car, and the cuddly bird in uniform. The owner’s niece. I know them of old. Just a taxi firm with big ideas really ".

They watched without the binoculars as the woman was joined by two middle-aged men in grey suits, who carried bulky brown brief cases. From the way they carried them, they were currently empty. "Ok, they're off" he said. "Let's go.” He nodded toward them "See you again soon, folks"

They had left the bank, the two accountants clutching their now bulging brief cases. Five minutes into the journey, the two men had hardly spoken. Marie had come to expect this. She thought that Mr Fletcher and Mr Walker probably didn't like each other much. Not like Mr Warner and Mrs Duncan, there seemed to be some chemistry between those two. They were a much more talkative duo. They always talked to her, unlike this pair.

The day was starting to warm up, and Marie took a hand off the wheel to unbutton her jacket. Maybe later she would take it off. So long as her shirt was buttoned at the neck and her tie neatly knotted, she would still look smart and professional. Her attention was suddenly drawn to a blue van parked at the roadside just in front. A uniformed man appeared just behind it and waved her to slow down. She pulled in where he indicated and stopped the car, instinctively, before it struck her that, apart from the navy blue suit and peaked cap, there was nothing about him that said "police ". Now it was too late. As the man stepped swiftly round the front of the car, the back doors of the van flew open. Two men in blue boiler suits jumped out. Horrified, she noticed that the pair were wearing plastic "Richard Nixon" masks. "Why the hell did you stop?" she heard George Fletcher shout. "It's a bloody holdup ". She heard the doors opening and the two masked men scrambling in. A gun was waved in her face by the man who jumped into the seat next to her.

"Drive, to the RedSpot Cement Works. No chat, just go" he barked.

"Where's that? I never heard of it" said Marie, playing for time.

"You're a bloody taxi driver, just go there. Or d'you want to go in the boot, while I drive" he growled. “What’s it going to be?"?

Marie's outburst of defiance collapsed. "I'm driving there" she said quietly, trying to remain calm and composed.

In the gloomy room, which had once been the reception area of the now derelict cement works, Marie and her two passengers stood facing the wall, hands on their heads as they had been ordered. There were three "Nixons" with them now. "Don't look at us" one of them had ordered, and Marie and her companions were keen to obey. "You are scared and surprised. But just do as we say, we are robbers. We get money, nobody gets hurt. So stop shaking, you aren't going to be shot unless you do something really stupid".

"So what's going to happen. Why are we here?" Marie asked, feeling reassured by the man's tone.

"We're going to keep you here for a couple of hours. We're going to tie you up, one at a time. But we are perfect gentlemen, so it's ladies first. Perhaps the little lady would like to clasp her hands behind her back. My colleague will oblige by tying her as comfortably as possible. We've got plenty of cord for all of you."

Marie couldn't help feeling a tiny rush of excitement as one of the men took hold of her hands, forced them together behind her back. "She's not so little," he gloated as he wrapped the cord round her wrists several times before knotting it. She couldn't help blushing as he spoke, and wished she had left her jacket buttoned up now. It got worse, he draped the cord round her shoulders from behind, passed it under her arms from the front and drew the ends back. He stopped to pull her jacket back and down off her shoulders, then pulled the cords tighter and wound them round her upper arms, pulling them back and forcing her breasts forward against her white blouse. The man continued, passing the cord round her body below her bust, then above, grinning as he did so. Then he was behind her, doing something with the cord, she didn't know what, but the cords all tightened up and her bound hands were pulled upwards. Marie was finding the whole business slightly exciting, in spite of her better judgement. They had been captured by the gang over half an hour ago and there had been no real threat to their safety. She had recently seen the film "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" and it was easy to see the romantic aspect of being tied up by courteous, albeit masked, robbers. She was an avid reader of thrillers and often wondered how it felt to be captured and bound. Now she was finding out. Glancing to her left, she became aware that George Fletcher was looking intently at her, his eyes almost popping out as he stared at the way the ropes binding her arms behind her back were forcing her breasts forward.

She wasn't the only one to notice."Look, the old fella's getting an eyeful "Said one of the masked men. She opened her mouth to protest when to her surprise something was forced between her teeth, a large knotted piece of fabric. She realised immediately that she was being gagged, the ends of the knotted piece of bandage were being tied behind her head. Her first instinct was to try to speak, then it occurred to her that if she did, she might be gagged more thoroughly.

"Now, sit her down over there and tie her feet" said the man behind her, pointing to the right. "Off you go, love" he slapped her bottom jovially, rather too hard for her liking. She turned to face him indignantly, and as she did so, received a second smack on the same spot. "Come on now girl, do I have to put you over my knee?" he said with a laugh in his voice. Marie could feel herself turning red with embarrassment, and saw the nervous smiles of her two passengers. Reluctantly she walked over to the other side of the room. She noticed with some annoyance how dusty the concrete floor was, not surprising in and abandoned factory, but not nice to sit on, for a woman who took pride in her smart appearance. As the man helped her to sit down, a hand on one shoulder and the other on her elbow, he continued "you want to watch my mate, he loves to give a woman a spanking, specially when she's in no position to resist ".

Marie sat down clumsily, it wasn't easy with hands tied behind her back. She pondered on what the man had just said. She had wondered about being bound by robbers, but it hadn't occurred to her until now that such an encounter might include getting her bottom spanked. Was it going to happen to her, today? Not in front of these two middle-aged accountants, please. It was bad enough the way Mr Fletcher was staring at her breasts. She took her mind off that subject by watching intently as the man knelt in front of her, crossing her legs at the ankles before passing the cord round them five times, cinching it between them and knotting it. She thought this was the end of it, but he moved closer. She raised her eyebrows and tried to move away as he pushed her skirt back from her knees. " No, keep still. Don't want your bum smacked, do you?" He grinned at her as he passed the cord round her legs just above the knee, five times again, before cinching and knotting it. She felt herself blushing again and looked quickly away.

Then he was finished and joined his colleague in the task of binding the two men. Marie watched with interest, noticing with some pride the way that the men took little interest in how they bound the men's arms behind them. Not like the care that went into passing the ropes round her. As George Fletcher was about to be gagged, he pulled his head back and said "what's the point? We're miles from anywhere, out of earshot".

The robber stopped. "What, not gag you, you mean?"

"That's right. I won't shout for help, what's the point, nobody will hear. And I've got a cold, I could suffocate. That could mean a manslaughter charge". He sounded desperate. "Makes sense, doesn't it. You'll still get away with the robbery".

To Marie's surprise, the robber said "You know what . I agree, it won't make much difference. But remember, we're coming back in an hour, so everything better be how we left it, or suffocation will be the least of your worries".

"All right” said George. "We'll stay as we are. Don't want to cause any trouble, we just want to get this over. Don’t we?" He turned to his colleague, who nodded and grunted his agreement. The pair had their backs to Marie, and she was able to see the methodical way their hands and arms were bound behind their backs. She knew that she was tied in the same way, apart from the allowance made for her bust, and it seemed obvious to her that she wasn't going to get free. Even working together it would take them ages. But why do I have to stay gagged, then, she wanted to shout.

"Nnnnngghhh" she mumbled, and when they looked round at her, looked down her nose at the gag, which she could just about see. The robber who did most of the talking grinned.

"You two married?" he said, addressing the two men.

"Yes, why?" asked Arnold.

"Well, you'll both enjoy having a woman around without having to listen to her rabbiting on, for once in your life. So the lady here is going to keep her gag. And if we get back and find you've been trying to escape, you two get silenced as well. Understand?"

"Understood!" said George, avoiding Marie's glare. She rolled her eyes in a gesture of exasperation. She tried in vain to struggle against her ropes, but stopped when she noticed the smiling robbers watching. She sat quietly as they finished tying up the two men.

And once they were seated, when it came to their feet, they were just tied at the ankles. The binding at the thighs, the talk of spanking, was only for her. She didn't know if she should fell complimented or offended.

Looking at the robbers as they worked, she realised that the man who had worn the uniform was not in the room. Why not, she wondered, where was he? The question was soon answered. One of the masked Nixons addressed their captives. "We're borrowing the car, we've got another job to do. Don't worry, madam, we'll bring it back undamaged. But don't bother trying to get loose, we'll just have to tie you up again when we get back"

With these words, they left the building. The prisoners could all hear a heavy object being pushed against the door from the other side.

I'm not trying anything, Marie thought to herself. She felt as if she was the only one who had any guts. She wasn't going to do anything to make the situation worse. She didn't like to think how long she was going to sit here in discomfort on the dusty hard floor, bound and gagged, but incurring the wrath of the robbers wouldn't be wise. She tried not to think about the threatened spanking. Surely they were joking.

A long time later, or so it seemed, she heard the heavy object being moved away from the door. The gang, her tormentors, were back. What else was in store for them now?

To her surprise, the first two people through the door were not the robbers, but the people who should have been her next passengers. Rodney Warner and his assistant, Penny Wilson were hustled into the room. Penny, a pretty though plump blonde in her early thirties had a cheerful disposition and she and Marie had often shared anecdotes about their dull and uncommunicative bosses. This morning there was no smile on her face as she was ushered into the room behind her boss. Sharp suited Rodney Warner was usually quick-witted and chatty, a ladies man, and although he looked frightened when he entered the room, he nodded to Marie and gave her a quick smile. His eyes lit up, or so she thought, as he stared at her. She flushed with embarrassment, she found him quite attractive and usually enjoyed his flattery. Seeing her sitting here bound and gagged had obviously made an impression on him. He couldn't take his eyes off her. She didn't know which he was staring at hardest, her thighs where her skirt had ridden up during her struggles, or her breasts inside the now-stretched white blouse. One of the Nixons pushed him towards the far wall and turned him round, pulling his hands behind his back to begin the task of tying him up. Penny was made to stand in the middle of the room facing Marie while another robber attended to her. "I do appreciate a girl who has something to get hold of" he said. For a moment, Marie thought her friend was going to deliver a cutting comment in reply, and as Penny caught her eye, she shook her head emphatically. Penny got the message and said nothing.

Penny was dressed in her usual work attire, a mix of businesslike and fashionable. Today she wore a two-piece suit, waistcoat and skirt in light and dark brown, in a bold check fabric. With it, a high-necked blouse in lemon yellow with french cuffs, buttoned up at the fashionably pointed collar. A pair of calf length dark brown boots with two-inch heels completed her outfit. She grinned halfheartedly at Marie, putting on a brave face as her hands were pulled behind her back. Her expression changed to a frown as the cords were pulled tight round her wrists. She tried to look back over her shoulder as the man created a web of ropes around her arms and body, but was rewarded with a slap on her bottom and words of advice. "Don’t tempt me, darling. Keep still and don't make it difficult ". With an indignant look to Marie, she took the advice.

She stood, sullen but silent, looking down with interest as the last cords were tightened round her arms and body. "Isn't this a bit too thorough? I was caught up in a wage snatch, a hold up, a couple of years ago, at work" Oh dear, Marie thought. Every person who knew Penny had heard this story. The details varied considerably with every telling. Marie knew it was true because it had been in the local paper, but it wasn't the work of an international criminal mastermind. Penny had been the sole secretary, wages clerk and cashier for a small builder, working in a caravan on a building site. On a Friday afternoon , pay day, the workers had gone to the caravan to collect their wages, only to find the money gone and Penny bound and gagged on the floor. It was the work of two builders who had been fired a few weeks earlier. The amount of the haul, and the number of robbers, grew every time Marie heard the tale. Penny continued" They only tied my hands behind my back, and my feet, and gagged me, then they cleared off. They didn't go to this much trouble".

"Well, I'm a perfectionist. You'll see," he said without looking up.

Something suddenly occurred to her. Without turning, she addressed the robber who had just finished tying her. "Why have you gagged Marie and not the others" she demanded. "That's not fair, is it"

Marie could see what was happening behind her friend and shook her head again, but Penny didn't understand. She continued "no, it just Mmmmph! Nnnnmmmph" stopping only when a piece of knotted fabric was pushed between her teeth and pulled tight at the back of her neck. Her eyes widened in fury and disbelief as it was knotted.

"It's because you birds can't keep quiet” he explained."I did warn you" said the man, with a hint of amusement in his voice. He slapped her bottom again, harder this time. "I could get used to this. I think the pair of you need a good spanking, actually ". Oh no, Marie thought to herself. I'm going to get spanked, in front of these guys, and so is Penny, because she can't keep her mouth shut. Rescue came from an unexpected quarter.

"Okay, that's enough ". Another of the gang spoke, apparently one with authority . "We've got deadlines to meet. You've had your fun. Time to go. Get her finished and we'll be going".

Without a word, the man he addressed took Penny by the shoulders. "Down on the floor. On your knees" he said. He helped her down into a kneeling position. Why kneeling, Marie wondered. Was this what was in store for her? Penny shot her a worried look as she adjusted her knees on the concrete floor. The masked robber squatted behind her, binding her feet with several loops of cord, leaving a yard of it unused. Having knotted it, he pulled the cord up, passed it round her bound wrists, then up to the middle of her back, where a central knot joined the ropes round her arms and body. As she watched fascinated, Marie worried that her friend was going to have an uncomfortable time, kneeling on this floor until they were freed. She hoped it wasn't going to be done to her as well.

Then, to her and Penny's surprise, he took Penny by the shoulders again and pushed her forward, lowering her to lay face down on the floor, in the middle of the room. After giving her a final smack on her bottom, the man got to his feet. "That should keep you under control " he announced.

The uniformed driver, who Marie had forgotten about, reappeared in the doorway. This time he was masked as well, not a Nixon mask but a scarf tied across the lower part of his face. She realised, she should have paid more attention to how he looked. He was the only one she had seen without his mask. "Out here, all of you. Slight change to the plan. Then he was gone, before she had a chance to get a good look at him. The three, the one who had held the gun and the two who had tied Penny and Rodney, followed him out.

"Don't get up to anything, we're coming back. It could get a lot less pleasant" said the one who seemed to be in charge. Yes, Marie thought, it could. I could be trussed up like Penny, at least I'm sitting up. She just wished they would go. The five of them should be able to get loose, surely. They always did in TV thrillers.

As soon as the door closed, Penny started to struggle against the cords that held her, or at least she made a futile attempt to. Marie grunted into her gag and caught her attention. As Penny looked up at her, she shook her head again. She didn't want Penny doing anything that would annoy the robbers, or, much more likely, give them an excuse to tease their female prisoners. They had come close to being spanked, or so it seemed. Penny didn't seem to realise this. She rolled her eyes in a gesture of impatience. Heaven knows, it was like reasoning with a child. All they had to do was wait. She noticed that the three men opposite, all silent in spite of not having been gagged, were watching the two women with interest. George Fletcher spoke up.

"If I were you I'd keep still and quiet. They'll soon be off, they've got the money. You, the lady on the floor, you got yourself gagged by talking too much. Not you Marie, I didn't mean you". Penny turned her head, with some difficulty, to look at him. He continued, his speech really being directed at Marie. "When I reasoned with them and dissuaded them from gagging me, I assumed that they would remove that piece of cloth from your mouth. I didn't realise the sort of unpleasant characters that I was dealing with".

Marie stared at him. She wouldn't have known what to say if she had been able to speak. It sounded as if he felt guilty, and was trying to seem less selfish than he thought he appeared. Unpleasant characters, she thought. What do you expect from armed robbers? As if reading her thoughts, he added."I've been threatened with a gun and tied up, we all have, but nobody has been hurt. If we all stay calm and wait till they leave before we attempt to free ourselves, hopefully nothing worse will happen".

"I'll second that" said Rodney Warner, looking at Marie again in a way that she found both flattering and unnerving. She hadn't expected to be on the receiving end of admiring looks while she sat, dishevelled, dusty and bound.

The door opened and the three masked men entered. The uniformed man was not there now, she guessed that he didn't want anybody seeing too much of him. "Right, folks" One of the men stepped forward. "We're leaving now, but you are all staying here. In two hours we will let the police know where you are, and they'll come and save you. Something for the ladies to look forward to. But you lot won't wait, will you, you'll try to get loose, and we don't want that. We're going to make it a bit harder for you".

Oh, hell, what is it now, Marie thought. How much harder can it be. Penny squirmed on the floor in front of her. H'm Marie thought. I could be tied like that, face down, feet tied to hands behind me. My bottom spanked while I'm being tied, the unwelcome thought came to mind.

The robber explained "first the good news. Nobody needs to be gagged. Like the man said, it's miles from anywhere. You can shout till you are hoarse, but really I wouldn't bother. Oh, and we'll call the police in a while, tell them where to find you. All you need to do is wait".

"What's the bad news?" Rodney Warner asked, "We're going to find out anyway "

"Well, we don't want to take stuff with us, masks, ropes and stuff, do we. If we get stopped by the police, they might think we're up to something". He looked round the room at his captive audience."We're going to move you into separate rooms, because if we don't, you'll all have each other untied inside half an hour. Then you'll be out on the road, flagging down cars, the cops will be after us sooner than we want. I'm sure you understand . So as we won't have masks, and we've got spare bandages, we're going to blindfold you."

The three bound men commented in various ways."Oh, for heaven’s sake" said George Fletcher angrily.

"What the hell's the point of that?" demanded Rodney Warner. Penny, face down on the floor, raised her head, frowned and mumbled an angry protest into her gag. Marie didn't try to utter a sound, fearful of being laughed at by the robbers.

Another of the gang interrupted "Why bother telling them, just let’s get on with it" he said impatiently."If we drag this out much longer, they'll be missed, someone else is gonna phone the law".

"Okay, keep your hair on" The first man threw a loose bundle of bandages to the impatient one. "Help me out, you do some of them". Marie tried to shuffle backwards as he turned in her direction, but instead of starting on her he squatted by Penny, Guessing what was coming, she moved her head to one side in a futile attempt to avoid the blindfold. Of course it did no good, the man just laughed as he wound the fabric round Penny's head three times, adjusting it carefully to ensure that she couldn't see.

"You've got some spirit, Blondie, I'll give you that" he commented. "Going to take the gag out now". Marie was pleased to hear that al least, but the man worried her all over again when he whispered to Penny, "No biting or yelling, right, or you'll get some of this" and so saying he gave Penny a slap on her buttocks. She squealed into her gag, and pulled her feet against the cords holding them to her wrists. Marie couldn't help feeling sorry for Penny and angry at the robbers. Penny hadn't done anything to deserve it, but she had been treated worse than the rest of them. She had been tied more uncomfortably, her bottom smacked repeatedly, now she was being blindfolded first. If only we got the chance to pay them back, she thought. But then, at least, the man was unfastening

Penny's gag. Marie watched as Penny ran her tongue over her lips. She willed her friend not to say anything sarcastic. To her relief Penny merely muttered "Thanks".

"Right" said the man, turning toward Marie. "I'll take care of this lady, somebody take her next door (pointing at Penny), and deal with those guys" He seemed to be in charge, Marie realised. She saw one of the men crouched by Penny, feeling a stab of horror as she saw a craft knife in his hand, then a gasp of relief as he used it to saw through the cord that linked Penny's bound wrists to her booted ankles.

Without any hesitation, he turned Penny over on her back, then, with an arm under her thighs and the other under her shoulders, he lifted her up and started towards one of the three doors. Now able to speak, Penny complained loudly" Hey, what are you doing? Put me down, be careful". Keep quiet, please, Marie mentally begged her. If it was me I wouldn't make a fuss. She already sensed that at least some of the men were a little bit too interested in their female prisoners. Keeping quiet and not attracting attention was the best thing, she felt. The man's reply reinforced her view.

"I'm relocating you" he chuckled. "Perhaps you need a gentle reminder when we get outside" Penny must have understood, because she didn't say another word.

As Penny, suddenly compliant and still, was being carried out of the room, Marie's attention was drawn back to the other man, the one who was going to "take care of her". He was smoothing out a very long strip of fabric which she recognized as surgical bandage. Close-up, she could see that there was more than enough to blindfold her, it would go round her head several times. As he crouched by her side she was tempted to pull away from him, but decided not to. It would only delay the inevitable, and might provoke him to pay her some unwelcome attention. She had seen Penny being smacked on the bottom. She tried not to think about that sort of thing happening to her. She hadn't been spanked since childhood. She was distracted by her captor, who said "lights out" jovially as he placed the bandage over her eyes and wound it round her head, sometimes it went low, on her nose, sometimes higher, on her brow. The end result was that she couldn't see a thing, hardly a chink of light. He finished it off with a knot at the back of her head.

Now I really feel like a prisoner, she thought. She had sat here for an hour or two, her arms and legs bound, her mouth gagged, expecting to be set free before too long, but instead she was experiencing a more intense level of captivity. "Time to move next door, don't want you all untying each other too soon, do we?" he explained, still jovial.

Suddenly his hands were on her, under her thighs and around her shoulders, the same way Penny had been carried out. A frivolous thought crossed her mind. Was there a criminal textbook on how to carry bound women? The men were no wimps, both she and Penny were on the plump side and had been lifted with no trouble at all. She felt cool air as they went through the door, were they outdoors. His footsteps sound different, as if they were on concrete. Then she was being lowered, into a sitting position, she was grateful for that at least. The surface felt cold and hard on her bottom, it must be concrete. Now he was going to take her gag out, wasn't he? That's what they had said. She knew Penny had been ungagged. The man pulled on the cords round her arms, then those at her ankles, testing to see if they were still tight enough she supposed. "You're in a loading bay, a bit dusty and dirty but out of the sun. There's a three-foot drop all the way along, so stay put. Don't wriggle about and you'll be all right. Nice meeting you!". His tone was reassuring, but Marie didn't want reassuring, she wanted the gag taken out of her mouth.

"Nggwwrk ngg mmm. Mmmph" she grunted. It was the best she could do. She hoped he wasn't laughing.

"Oh yes" he said. We said we'd take the gags off. But you're out here, somebody driving by might here you yelling. Anyway, there's nobody to talk to here, is there?"

To Marie's anger and disbelief, he walked away. She listened as he closed the door. What a bastard, she thought. I did everything they told me to do, didn't give them any trouble, nobody else is still gagged. Why me? She saw herself as a strong person, but she felt like bursting into tears, just out of frustration. She tried to think about escaping, getting loose. She had played around with the cords already, furtively, not wanting to be caught trying to escape, and she didn't think she had much chance of freeing herself. She had made no impression on the ropes and couldn't reach any knots. It was hopeless. She thought about trying to move across the floor to the door, but she was blindfolded and couldn't guess where it was. And there was that three foot drop, somewhere close. It would be awful to fall over the edge, unexpectedly, with no hands to break her fall.

One of them had said they would call the police, how long would she have to wait for them to come? She didn't know what time it was, but surely it couldn't be long before she was missed. She could hear all sorts of noises, birdsong, not too far away, distant traffic, and, most interesting, the voices of the robbers, in other parts of the cement works. Frustratingly, she couldn't make out what they were saying. She was surprised that they were still around. They had seemed to be in such a hurry earlier. She eventually heard a familiar sound, the engine of her limousine, being driven away. Please don't damage it, she pleaded silently. It occurred to her that she hadn't heard the van leaving. She was sure she would have noticed if it had driven away. Had the robbers all left in her car, or was one still here?

She sat, still wondering if there was a way she could free herself, when she heard the nearby door opening, then quietly being closed. Footsteps approached quickly, but no words were spoken. She knew that he was standing quite close to her, but he didn't speak. Why not, she wondered. He must have returned to check that she was still tied securely. She heard him getting down next to her, kneeling or sitting. She felt a surge of panic as she felt his hands on her shoulders. He turned her to one side and lowered her backward, so that she was lying on her side, then rolled her over on to her stomach. What the hell was he up to? Was he one of the robbers even, or was he somebody who was just passing by, who had found her unexpectedly. She couldn't ask him what he wanted, or beg to be untied, because of the gag. Of course, he knew that. It was she who couldn't see anything. Then his hands were caressing her bottom, both hands. She tried to wriggle away from the hands, but one of them pressed down hard on the small of her back. Then, to her horror, the caressing stopped, the hand pulled her skirt back and she felt the fingers pulling the waistband of her tights and panties down. They weren't pulled down far, just to the top of her thighs. The first thing she was aware of was a cold breeze on her bottom, but that was the least of her troubles. Without warning, a hard smack came down on her naked posterior. Marie squealed into her gag, and bucked against the hand, but it had no effect on her unseen tormentor, another slap followed just a few seconds later. The more she squirmed, the harder the smacks became. The last time that she had been spanked was when she was a child, and that had been at the hands of her mother, who wasn't trying to humiliate her or hurt her. This was much worse, the unseen man was spanking her hard, for his own gratification. Marie realised this and stopped struggling, hoping that he would lose interest. She desperately hoped that he wasn't going to do anything worse. She counted eighteen smacks, then suddenly a car horn hooted, twice in quick succession.

He stopped suddenly, hesitated, then pulled her panties and tights back up, almost to their correct position. Not quite right and quite uncomfortable, but she was just happy that her bottom wasn't being smacked any more. She heard him getting to his feet, then she was aware of him moving away from her. His steps were louder now, less furtive. She heard the door open and close. She was on her own again, indignant and mystified as to who had done this to her. It must have been the man who was meant to take her gag out. But then she reasoned, it could have been any of them. It might have been somebody else. She had never heard of women being spanked by mysterious assailants.

A few moments earlier, elsewhere in the building, three men who were no longer masked were standing by a van, getting impatient. "Where the hell's Ray got to?" said one of them.

"Just gone to water his horse, he said" answered another. "I'll give him a toot, that'll bring him back"

On the floor of the loading bay, Marie lay on her side, listening as a nearby vehicle drove away. Her bottom stung, but her pride was hurt as well. She had already decided that she wouldn't mention the spanking. How long would it be before the Police arrived, she wondered.

Return to the Tull index

Return to the main index