In The Country
Monday
It had been at 5 o’clock that Jenny had planned to leave the office of Stark and Co to return to her home in the neighbouring village of Little Muston. Unfortunately for her, it had been at 4.30 that the two people had come into the office and asked to see Miss Stark on ‘a matter of some urgency.”
Just how urgent it was had become clear when the woman had taken a small pistol out of her handbag and ordered Jenny to stand up and raise her hands. Now she could see the clock hitting 5, and she knew she was going to be late home that night.
The man had been very efficient, tying her wrists together behind her back tightly and then making her sit down on the dust covers the painters had put down before starting tomorrow. Making her push her knees up, he had then lashed her ankles together, the front of her long red skirt pushed away at the hem up one side to allow him to pass the rope between her ankles as well as round them. He had then made her lie on her side before pulling her legs right back so that Jenny could wrap her fingers round the heels of her red stilettos – made easier by the fact he had tied her ankles to her wrists so tightly she could not move.
This has pushed her chest out, the bottom of her white top riding up as it did so, and now all she could hear from herself was the squeak of her shoes as they rubbed against each other, and her wide black belt as it rubbed on the cloth. She could not say anything herself – after the man had gone through to see Miss Stark, his friend had stuffed her mouth full of cloth before slapping several strips of duct tape over her lips and jaw.
As it was, all she could hear was muffled talking as the woman stood guard over her. Eventually she heard the man say “Come in,” and watched the woman walk through the door to her employer’s office.
Emma Stark was a good lawyer having a very bad day. The man had walked in, held her at gunpoint, and then forced her to take off her jacket, blouse and skirt before lashing her to an office chair. She looked up at him, her breasts encircled in the thick white rope that went around her, the chair back and several other places that were holding her arms and wrists static, as he stood over her.
“Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Stark,” he said a she pulled back on her auburn hair. Emma yelped, but the sound was muffled by cloth and white tape that filled and covered her mouth. Not that she had a lot of hope of rescue either, as she saw her secretary lying hogtied on the office floor outside.
“We have what we need,” the man said as his assistant stood in the doorway. “Have a look round for any money, and then meet me at the rendezvous point. I’m going to alert the others.”
“Frs,” Emma mumbled as she watched the man leave. Her eyes widened still further as the woman came up behind her and held her breasts in her hands, saying “I’m going to have some fun as well,” in a deep, quiet voice....
At 6.30 pm, Gemma and Alice were sitting on the settee in Gemma’s rooms, their cups of tea sitting on the coffee table in front of them and getting steadily colder. The four leather clad women in the room were watching the two women, who merely stared back in contemplative silence.
“My apologies, ladies,” one of them said as she picked up a cup and took a sip of tea through the open mouth of her balaclava mask, “but it is important you stay her and out of the way for a while.” Gemma tried to say something, but the thick white cloth that had been pulled between her lips was acting as a most effective gag – both for her and for Alice, who had called in for a cuppa fifteen minutes before the gang had forced their way in.
Gemma was wearing a black sleeveless min dress, while Alice had one a white silk blouse over her short blue skirt. The gang had bound the wrists of both women together in front of them, as well as securing their ankles together and gagging them, but Gemma had the feeling this was all just to stop them from getting involved in something else. Whatever that was, it had to be with Cassie, the woman she was the housekeeper for, and that would not be a good thing.
Eventually, she saw a pair of headlights flashing across the closed curtains as the sound of a car stopping came through. “Watch them,” the leader of the group said, and as one of them stayed behind the other three left quickly, turning off the lights behind them as the two women sat quietly.
“That was some meeting,” Cassie said as she opened the door and held it open for her sister Caroline to walk in.
“I know – but at least we managed to get away in time to get ready before she gets here,” Caroline said as she hung her coat up. She was wearing a dark brown suede strapless dress, with matching strapped heels, while Cassie had on a light purple blouse and short black skirt. The skirt was slit up one side, showing the tops of her stockings and the strap that led up to the garter belt underneath.
“Fix us both a drink, will you – I need to see Gemma,” Cassie said. As Caroline walked into the front room, Cassie headed to her housekeeper’s rooms, but before she got to the door she was grabbed and dragged into the study at the rear of the house.
“Shut up,” a deep female voice said as Cassie saw a gun pointing at her, “and you get to survive tonight. We just want your valuables - and a couple of other things besides. Now, if you want to cooperate, then you don’t get knocked out. Your choice.”
“CAROLINE,” Cassie screamed, but a gloved hand slapped itself over her mouth so fats she was unable to say anything else. “Bad move,” the masked woman said as she walked towards Cassie, a wad of white cloth held in her hand. “Now open wide.”
“All right, I’ll do it,” Caroline said quietly as she took the cloth from the armed and masked woman and gently pushed it into her mouth. This was not something you expected to happen in Greater Muston - an armed robbery, your sister screaming at you before silence, and someone telling you to gag yourself.
She was handed a pink silk scarf, which had been rolled into a band. “Put that into your mouth to keep the cloth in,” the masked woman said, and as Caroline pulled the scarf between her teeth she felt the cloth been pushed to the back of her throat. Taking care not to catch her frizzed blonde hair. She tied the ends together at the base of her neck and looked at her armed captor.
“Good,” the woman said as she pointed to a stool. “Now sit down – you’re going to do something else for me.”
“Ulnvergtwwfths” Cassie mumbled as she watched the intruder wrapping the final length of grey rope around her legs above her knees. Her arms had been pulled behind her back, and secured together at the wrists, while her arms were held to her sides by ropes that had been pulled so tightly her breasts had been forced out and the purple silk stretched tightly across them. Her ankles thighs and calves now were also tightly lashed together, the rope visible against the dark stockings as her skirt fell to one side.
“Now, you just sit quietly,” the woman had said as she smoothed the last piece of tape over her stuffed mouth,” and we’ll empty your safe.” Now she watched as they swiftly managed to open the safe door, and started to load her jewellery and valuables into a large duffle bag. The one thought on her mind, as she shook her head to get her hair out of her eyes, was where her sister was.
“That’s right, tie it off,” she said to Caroline as the young woman looked over. She had already been forced to cross and tied her ankles together, and now she was tying her legs together above her knees as well. “You tie a good knot,” the woman said as she came over and checked the loops, before pulling Caroline’s arms behind her back. She looked over her shoulder as the rope went quickly around and between, securing her wrists together before a further length went around her arms.
The woman stopped for a moment when she heard the doorbell ring. “Expecting anyone,” she said with a smile, but something in her eyes told Caroline they already knew who it was – and that she was expected.
“Anyone home?”
The small, dark haired woman closed the door behind her and looked round the deserted hallway. She was wearing a white evening dress, thin straps across the back as they went over her shoulders to hold the silver embroidered front in place. The silver strands ran diagonally across the top and round the back, while her matching silver heels made a clacking sound as she walked on the marble doorway.
“Cassie,” she said as she headed for the study at the back. She knew her friend sometimes worked late, so that was where she would be. As she opened the door, however, she was grabbed by a woman dressed in black leather and pulled into the room.
“Cassie?” she said quietly to the bound and gagged woman staring back at her, before she was pushed across the room and made to lean down in front of a couch.
“Shut up,” she heard a woman say, “and put your hands behind your back. We have some business to do with your father.”
Cassie tried to scream as she watched the woman cross her friend’s wrists behind her back and lash them together with thin rope. Satisfied her wrists were secure; she made the new arrival get up on her knees before pulling a thick white flying scarf round her head twice, pulling the material between her lips each time, and then blindfolding her with a second scarf.
“Let’s go,” she heard the woman say before she was forced onto her feet and marched out of the house. She could hear others joining them as the cold night air hit her face and she was bundled into a vehicle....
Tuesday
“Did you see the police cars racing up to the manor house last night?”
“Oh, I did – some trouble up there I expect.”
Dave looked at the two women gossiping in his post office, counting out the money for one of them.
“There you go dear,” he eventually said, “and you should stop gossiping.”
“OH come on dear – this is Greater Muston, nothing exciting ever really happens round here. We need something to gossip about.”
“Well, it will be in the news if anything was wrong, so don’t worry yourself about it, all right?”
He watched the two women walk out before returning to the task of sorting the letters out, wondering what would happen to catch their attention next.
Wednesday
“Hlysht, thrts!”
Ali looked over her shoulder at the man standing behind her at the side of the bed. As he pulled the rope tightly around her ankles, she tried desperately to pull her wrists apart, but to her dismay the white cords held firm against her bare skin.
The two men had surprised both Wendy and her as they sat down to eat their evening meal, the candlelight flickering in the breeze caused by the patio doors opening. They were tall, well built and extremely well armed, so the two women had no choice but to do exactly what they said as one stayed with Wendy and the other dragged her up to the bedroom.
After forcing her to strip down to the saucy black knickers she had worn specially for the evening, the man had pushed Ali onto the bed and tightly bound her wrists together, before using a rolled up red bandana to stop her from screaming for help. Her bare breasts were squashed by her bodyweight on the duvet cover, as she heard him say “Stay still and I won’t do anything else to you.”
“Whrs wndi,” she mumbled as she watched him starting to turn out the contents of the large chest of drawers.
“Safe with my friend downstairs,” he said quietly, “now shut up and lie still.”
“Five Seven two One Three”
Wendy looked at the man, tears streaming down her face as he opened the safe that was hidden behind the portrait on the wall. She was sitting in her black t-shirt and ankle socks, her wrists bound behind her back and her elbows held together by rope that had been wrapped between her arm to make a form of elbow cuff. Her ankles were also bound with the white nylon rope, ten turns around them before the rope had been passed between her legs to tighten the rope coils.
“That’s a good girl,” the man said as he opened the door and looked inside. Picking up a length of white cloth, he walked behind Wendy and held the cloth in front of her. “Open wide,” he said as He passed the cloth over Wendy’s lips, pulling it between her teeth as she opened her mouth and passing it around twice before knotting the ends tightly over her black hair.
She watched as he emptied the safe, throwing everything into a sack, before pulling the cords at the top tight and looking at her. “NNNNN,” she screamed as he picked her up and carried her up the stairs, depositing her on a brown duvet in the spare bedroom.
“Hold still,” he said as he pulled her ankles back and secured them to her wrists with another length of rope. Satisfied, he slapped her on the bottom and said “thanks for everything, doll.” She turned her head and watched as he walked out of the room, his footsteps receding into the distance.
Ten minutes passed before she heard somebody hopping down the corridor. Twisting round, she saw Ali hopping into the bedroom, sweat pouring down her body as she came over to the bed and fell beside Wendy.
“Rullrt”, Ali mubled as she looked at Wendy. The other girl nodded as they manoeuvred themselves round to look at each other, before their lisp touched in a sign they were there for each other.
Thursday
“You’re joking – the rector’s daughter?”
“Yeah – the Reverend Hobbs found them in the vicarage bedroom when he got back to Muston on the Wold last night. They cleaned out the safe, their valuables, everything.”
George paid no attention to the two housewives as they talked about the incidents of the previous day. When he heard them talking about the sale of the apartment at Devon House just down the road from them, he turned round and said “So you think they may finally have found a buyer?”
“Could be,” one of the women replied. “Word is Adele Hopkins is bringing someone round to view tomorrow – someone who wants a quiet house in the country.”
“We’ll have to see what happens, then,” George said as he went back to sorting the papers. “I’ll miss her – she was a real pleasure to see in the mornings.”
Friday
“Who are you and what are you doing in this apartment?”
Adele Hopkins stared at the group of men that she had discovered when she came into the flat. There were six of them, all dressed in black and wearing balaclavas over their heads, and each had either a club or a gun in their hands.
“None of your business, dear,” the man who seemed to be their leader said as he pointed his gun at her. “Turn round, stay still and shut up.”
Brushing her hands through her red hair, Adele slowly turned round and moved her arms behind her back, the front of her jacket straining slightly as she felt her wrists been tied together. She was dressed in a black jacket and trousers, with a white collar on the jacket, and black heels. All she had planned to do was show the flat to a vendor before Miss Carter got back, and now something far more serious was going on.
“You two,” the man said as he turned to two of the other masked men, “go to the flat next door and make sure they don’t disturb us. With luck that will be all the extra precautions we need to take.”
The men nodded and headed off as he turned back to Adele. “Sit down on the floor,” he said as he pushed down on her shoulders, “and don’t make a sound.”
Ten minutes later, Adele heard a young girl scream through the wall, but she was in no position to do anything about it. For one thing, he had pushed a large sponge into her mouth and covered it with long strips of white tape. For another, she was lying on her side with her ankles tied together, her jacket pulled open and pulled down her arms as her black lingerie was exposed to the air.
“Now we wait,” the man said as Adele wondered what was going on next door...
“Jo? Where are you?”
Helen closed the door and put her bag on the floor. For a forty year old, she looked ten years younger, with her blue vest top, white skirt and black knee length boots making her look thirty rather than her true age. She wondered where her daughter was – she should have been home half an hour earlier.
“Jo?” she called out again as she walked towards the main room. Before she had taken two steps, however, her eyes widened as she was grabbed from behind and a gloved hand clamped over her mouth.
“Shut up,” she heard a gruff voice saying, and as she looked over her shoulder she saw a man in a balaclava mask holding her tightly.
“Whrsjo,” she mumbled as he held her tightly around her waist. “Safe,” he sneered in reply, “and so will you be in a minute. In there...”
In her bedroom, Jo screamed again through the layers of silver duct tape that covered her mouth and lower face. The two men had grabbed her half an hour earlier and forced her into the bedroom, where they had turned her into nothing short of a sausage with tape around her wrists, sock clad ankles and legs, which had been tied with her calves tightly against the back of her thighs. Her blouse had worked free from her jeans, but he sweat stains were evident for the man standing watching her.
She turned her head as she heard the door opening again. “Helen, Jo – are you – ohshit!”
The man went swiftly out, before Jo heard two women crying as their footsteps echoed down the hall. “Damn – they had to pick tonight to drop in,” she thought as she heard her mother sobbing in the next room...
“In there,” the masked and armed man said as he pushed the two young women back into their flat. They looked at him as he pushed them forward, their hands behind their heads, as they went into the bedroom.
“What’s your name,” he said to the blonde as he closed the door. She was dressed in a red silk blouse and short black skirt, a slit up the side.
“Belinda,” she said quietly, “And this is Susan.” The other girl nodded, her long black hair falling over her light brown blouse. Her skirt was blur, with taupe pantyhose covering her legs.
“All right, Belinda,” the man said, “Where do you keep your bed sheets?”
“In the linen cupboard outside, why?”
“Go and get a sheet – and no funny stuff, or Susan here suffers.” As he said this, he took a knife out from his waistband and took hold of Susan’s arm. Belinda swallowed hard as she went and fetched a white sheet. As she came back in, she saw Susan pushing a wad of cloth into her mouth, before accepting a wide strip of microfoam tape from the masked man.
“Give me the sheet,” the man said as Susan smoothed the tape over her mouth, “and then sit down.”
“What do you want from us,” Belinda said as she watched him cut a length from the sheet with his knife.
“None of your business,” he said as he handed her the cloth. £now, stuff that into your own mouth, before you help me some more.”
In Helen’s flat, the man had finished tying the purple scarf over her mouth when the doorbell rang next door. He listened to the muffled scream, before patting Helen on the bottom as she lay trussed on the carpet.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Belinda looked at the man as she wrapped the length of cloth around Susan’s ankles, while her flatmate lay back on the bed. Her wrists were already tied behind her back with a long strip of cotton, and she offered no resistance as her ankles were pulled together.
“Very good, Belinda,” the man said as he handed the blonde another strip of cloth. “Now, tie your ankles together, and I will take care of the rest of you.”
“My apologies, lady, but you need to be kept out of the way.”
She grunted through her own headscarf, which had been rolled up and used to gag her as she sat in their kitchen. The masked man had grabbed her and forced her into the kitchen, before pulling her arms behind the back of the chair and tying them together.
They had not even allowed her to take her leather coat off, but instead tied her ankles and legs together, the white rope clearly visible over the dark stockings. She shook her head, her black hair flying round, as she heard the flat front door opening and a deep female voice calling out “Adele? Has the buyer been yet?”
“She’s a bit tied up – as is the buyer,” she heard the man who had spoken to her say. “Now, Miss Carter, let us go to your bedroom and you can make yourself – comfortable.”
Thirty minutes later, Diana Carter was lying on the bedroom floor. The man had allowed her to change into a black sheer nightdress, before binding her by the wrists and ankles and demanding to know where her secret safe was.
She had denied such a thing existed, but when they had informed her that not only was Adele and the woman interested in buying her flat their hostages, but so were all her neighbours, she had finally relented and told them how to open the hidden panel in the floor. Now she watched as they emptied her jewellery collection into their bags, the shoulders of her nightdress falling down her shoulders as she tried to get free.
“Well, we need to go now,” the man said as he walked over to Diana, a length of microfoam in his gloved hands. “Now, purse your lips and hold still....”
Saturday
“All of them? My god, what is happening to this place?”
George was talking with one of the customers when the shop door opened and Lady Caulder walked in, her poodle by her side. The Lady of the manor was a very well endowed woman, her white jumper stretched over her chest as she wriggled across the floor as easily as her tight leather hobble skirt would allow her.
“Good morning, your ladyship,” George said as he handed her a copy of the Telegraph.
“Thank you, George,” she said with a smile as she walked back out of the shop. “I hear the lord of Muston Manor is away again for the weekend,” the customer said, “probably with his ‘friend’ in Leicester.”
George simply smiled as he waved goodbye to the customer, turning back to the papers.
“MGD!!”
The blonde haired maid was looking at the masked, leather clad woman as she tied the last knot in the black rope that held her arms to her side. She had been forced to strip at gunpoint, leaving her naked before she had been tightly bound with black rope, her mouth stuffed and covered in duct tape.
There was the sound of footsteps in the hallway as the intruder stood behind the doorway. As the door opened, the gagged woman saw her colleague walk in, wearing the outfit of a blue short sleeved nurse’s dress that zipped up the front and white sneakers.
“Are you skiving off agannnn,” she said as the masked intruder placed a gloved hand over the dark haired woman’s mouth and grabbed her with the other hand. “Shh, shh,” she whispered into the frightened girl’s ear, “My friends are just talking to your employer, while I keep both of you company. I want you to do what I tell you, do you understand?”
“Mmm” the girl said as she nodded. “Good girl,” the masked woman said. “Now, I’m going to let go of you. Stay quiet, and take your clothes off...”
“I said take your clothes off, your ladyship.”
Lady Caulder stood there, fuming as she slowly unzipped her skirt and allowed it to fall to the floor, before pulling her jumper over her head. She stood there in a pair of white briefs, with straps from them to the tops of her white stockings, and a pair of clear soled high heeled sandals.
In front of her were two masked men, smiling as they pointed their guns at her. “Where’s your safe,” the younger of the two asked, and Lady Caulder pointed to a display stand against the far wall, a pair of doors closed in a part in the middle. As the young man walked over, the older man forced her to lie on the floor, pulling her arms behind her back and wrapping thick white cord around her wrists.
As she felt her ankles been tied together, and then pulled back against her legs, she watched the young man open and empty the safe, as she found herself in a hogtie. As the other man held a sponge ball in front of her mouth, and she opened her mouth in the realisation she was going to be silenced, Lady Caulder started to wonder who it was who knew this was the day she took the wages for the staff and stored them at home...
Sunday
“It appears to have been quite a week,” George said as he sat down at the table for his Sunday dinner. His wife passed him a plate as his two sons sat on the side parts of the table.
“So I heard – perhaps we’ll have a quieter day of it in the next few weeks,” his wife said as they started to eat. “By the way, George, you need to check on our guest after dinner – give her something to eat.”
“Sure thing, honey,” George said as he looked over at his wife, her smile lighting up the room as she sat back down. “Did you enjoy yourself with the girls last night?”
“I don’t think they complained too much – although I wish I had been with you on Friday.”
“No you don’t” the older son said as he put down hsi fork. “It was a bloody nightmare – we nearly didn’t get the collection. Women appearing every ten minutes – we’re just lucky some of them proved co-operative.”
“Well, that’s what comes of not planning for every contingency,” George said as he lifted up a slice of beef. “Now finish your dinner – you need to drive down to London today and see our contacts.”
An hour later, George unlocked the door to the attic and carried the food tray in. Lying on the bed was a brown haired woman, her arms tied spread eagled to the bed and her ankles tied to the foot of the old bed. White tape covered her eyes and her mouth as she lay there, turning her head at the sound of the door opening. To one side was a white dress with silver embroidery and a pair of silver sandals.
“I have some food for you,” George said as he set the tray down and peeled the tape away from her mouth, “and some good news. Your father is going to pay the ransom, and you will be going home tomorrow.”
“Thank you,” she said quietly as she opened her mouth to take a spoonful of soup, glad her week long ordeal would soon be over...
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