Winter Perils
The China Doll Gang
Audrey had
been taken completely by surprise when she made her way to the kitchen to fetch
some more wine for her and her mother, and saw the apparition hanging in the
air. A ghostly white face, seemingly
just hovering there. It was only when
she had felt the hand on her shoulder, and saw the grey outline of the woman
stepping forward, that she realised not only was it not a ghost, it was someone
who she had read about in the Daily Mail.
She stood,
unable to move from a combination of fear and disbelief as the long rope was
draped around her neck and down her shoulders, before her arms were pulled back
by the motion of the rope spiralling down them, her wrist fixed together in the
small of her back, the rope digging into her bare arms as the intruder then
wound the rope around her body and chest, criss-crossing her black t-shirt as
the person in front of her removed the long turquoise scarf from around her
neck, and rolled it into a tight band...
“About time,
Audrey what kept...” Cheryl looked up
from her seat and saw her daughter being frogmarched into the room by three
women, dressed identically in grey bodysuits that covered them from head to
toe, grey gloves on their hands and soft boots on their feet. The one thing that was not grey was the
white, featureless masks that covered their faces.
“OH no –
you’re them, aren’t you, that China Doll Gang,” she said as she shrank back,
looking at her daughter, now tightly bound around the arms and body with her
scarf wrapped three times around her mouth, muffling her pleas.
One of the
Dolls looked at Cheryl, in her blue short sleeved top over a black undertop,
dark blue jeans and slippers. She
reached down and fingered the long silk scarf that hung around her neck, looked
at Cheryl and motioned she should take it off.
“What do you
want,” Cheryl said, watching as the Doll then motioned with both hands as if
she was pulling a gag over her mouth if one had been visible. Cheryl looked at Audrey, nodded and opened
her mouth, winding the scarf three times around her head and between her lips
before tying the ends together at the side of her head.
The Doll then
motioned with her hand for Cheryl to stand up, and as she did so Audrey was
made to sit on a couch, while one of the Dolls knelt in front of her and began
to tie her legs together below her knees, followed by her ankles. As this was taking place, Cheryl was
watching the Doll with her doing the same for her, securing her legs tightly
together before she produced the longest length of rope she had ever seen, and
then used to bind her arms and upper body.
“Whwwntthspk,”
Audrey said as she looked over but Cheryl just shook her head – the news
article had been very clear about the fact these three women never ever
speak. Instead she felt her arms been
fixed together and to her back, before one of the Dolls took guard silently,
her head cocked to one side as she looked on.
They could hear
the search of the house, objects falling on the floor and drawers being opened,
but the gun the Doll held was enough to keep them rooted to their seats, wondering
how it had happened so quickly...
From outside,
they could hear singing approaching – carol singers, as the Doll moved her head
to the window, and then turned the lights off.
The women watched her white face hanging there as the singers topped for
a moment, the sound of “Silent Night” coming through loud and clear, before
they moved off.
As the sound
faded, the other two Dolls came back into the room, looking at Audrey and
Cheryl as they sat there. Two of the
dolls then made Audrey lie face down, pulling he rankles back to tie them to
her chest ropes, while the third made Cheryl sit on the floor and tied her
ankles to her back as she sat there.
The trip
stopped and looked at them, their white faces cocked to one side, before
leaving them to sit in the dark, the snow starting to fall outside...
In the
non-descript grey van, the three women shook their hair loose and looked at
each other.
“Shops?”
“Yeah - I still have to pick up the rest of the
Christmas presents,” one of them said as she climbed into the driver’s seat,
and drove off...
The Gentlemen Robbers
“I must say,
it is most accommodating of you to offer us some hot coffee,” the tall man said
as he sat in an armchair, sipping the black beverage from a cup. “It is a cold night, and this is very
welcoming.”
“No matter
the circumstance, we must show hospitality,” the woman sitting opposite him
said. She was wearing a long gold
coloured robe with a brown floral print on it, and a white scarf that covered
her hair and head so that only her face showed.
The scarf had a brocaded edge, and was held in place by a gold pin.
“Will you be
taking this,” she said as she put her hand to it.
“No – I have
no desire to make you disobey a requirement of your faith,” the man said as he
sipped his coffee again, the cup held firmly in his black gloved hand. He was about six foot five, and wore a black
leather jacket over a roll necked sweater, trousers and shoes. The outfit was completed by the black
balaclava that covered his head, showing only his eyes and mouth.
“Are you
uncomfortable,” he said as he looked at the woman. Her robe was constricted around her legs,
below her knees, by the band of rope that held her legs together, while another
band was visible over the black short boots she was wearing.
“Given the
circumstances, I will cope,” she said as the door to the room opened and a
second man came in, his hand on her sister’s arm. He was dressed identically to the first man,
but stood a good foot smaller. As for
the other woman, she was wearing a long robe, with red and orange circle prints
on a light background, and a lace trim to the cuffs of her sleeves and her
skirt. She also had a white scarf
covering her hair, but a second black scarf had been folded into a band, a knot
tied in the middle now sitting between her lips while her wrist were crossed
and tied together in front of her.
Two more
bands of rope encircled her arms and held them close to her body, above and
below her chest, while shorter lengths held them firm under her arms.
“Ah,” the
taller of the two men said, “You have completed the search?”
“We have, and
your sister has been most accommodating,” the new arrival said as she helped
the bound woman to sit in an armchair, before kneeling and starting to tie her
ankles together with rope.
“I must thank
you as well – since her operation, my sister has been unable to move her hands
far behind her back,” was the reply before she looked at the seated man. “I presume it is now my turn?”
“With regret,
yes,” the smaller man said as he then wrapped more rope around his captive’s
legs, the hem of her robe rising slightly as he did so. “Mister Tall, if you would do the honours?”
“It would be
a pleasure, Mister Small,” the other man said as he placed his coffee cup back
on the table, and stood up, taking a length of rope from the bag that was
sitting on the floor. “If you would be
so kind as to turn and cross your wrists behind your back?”
“As you asked
so politely,” the women said as she turned and crossed her wrists, saying to
her sister as Mister Tall started to tie them together “Are you managing to
cope?” The other woman nodded as she
looked at Mister Small, who had poured himself a cup of coffee and was drinking
it while watching them.
“Very good
coffee,” he said as he watched his partner secure the woman’s arms to her sides
as he had her sister, and then handed him a folded and knotted electric blue
silk scarf.
“IF you would,”
Mister Tall said, waiting for her to open her mouth before he gagged her, tying
the band over her white head covering and securing the ends at the base of her
neck. As he did this, Mister Small
collected the coffee cups and pot and took them to the kitchen, the sounds of
running water coming through to them before her returned.
“Well, it has
been a pleasure to visit you both,” Mister Tall said as they both picked up a
rucksack, “But we must be on our way. We
wish you the compliments of the season, if not exactly a Merry Christmas. The Gentlemen Robbers bid you adieu – may we
never meet again.”
The two women
bowed in response to them as they left the room, and returned to their
transport.
“What time is
your flight,” Mister Small said as they set off.
“Ten tomorrow
morning – Christmas in Florence.”
“You lucky
sod,” was all Mister Small said as they drove off into the snow...
John Jacobs
Sometimes
it’s the little things you spot that lead to the most interesting
situations. A week or so back, I was
walking back from a valuation visit. The
house was only a couple of miles from the store, and although it was cold it
was a dry day, so the walk would do me some good.
As I walked
down the road, I saw this girl, about six years old, standing in the street. She was wearing a light purple pinafore dress
over a long sleeved white top, and she was looking as if she was searching for
someone. So I stopped, looked at her and
said “Hello- have you lost someone?”
“I’m looking
for my daddy,” she said as she looked at me.
She had black hair, with a white bow in it, and she looked as if she had
at least one parent from the Middle East.
“Why are you
looking for your daddy?”
“Because
Mummy won’t talk to me – she told me to stay in my room and play, but when I
got bored and found her, she would not talk to me.”
Now this
worried me a little, so I said “Why couldn’t she talk to you?”
“She had some
funny white stuff covering her mouth, and she could not get out of her chair.”
Now I was
definitely worried, so I said “I tell you what – why don’t you take me to your
mummy, and I’ll see if I can talk to her.
Maybe she can tell us where your daddy is?”
“But Mummy
and Daddy told me not to talk to strange men.”
“Well,
they’re right to do that, but I think we can make an exception in this
case.” Taking her hand, I said “Why
don’t we go to your home, and you can tell me why Mummy told you to stay in
your room to play.”
“I think it
was because the man with her wanted to talk to her,” she said as we walked
towards a semi-detached house, with a car parked in the driveway. “He’s gone now as well.”
“I see,” I
said as we got to the door. “Why don’t
you show me where your mummy is?”
We walked
into the house, before she pointed to a door and said “She’s in there.”
I walked to
the door, looked in and then turned to the little girl. “I think I see what’s wrong with your mummy
now. Why don’t you go and get your
favourite bear or dolly, and wait in your room for me? I promise Mummy will be with you n a few
minutes.”
“All right,”
the little girl said as she walked off, while I took my phone out and walked
into the room.
“Hello? Police – I need to report a break in.”
Her mother
was sat on a dining room chair, wearing a pink blouse, long white skirt, pale
blue trousers and black shoes. A large
brown and cream scarf was tied over her hair in a traditional manner, as she
looked at me. She watched as I gave the
address to the police, and then looked at her.
“Allow me,” I
said as I peeled the white tape away from her lips, easing the cloth from her
mouth before she gasped “Thank you – my daughter...”
“I sent her
upstairs,” I said as I found a pair of scissors, and started to cut her free of
the tape holding her to the chair. “I
presume you sent her there for her safety?”
She nodded as
she stood up. “I have been robbed, but
she is safe. Will you stay?”
“I have to,
to tell the police what I found – go to her.”
You see, my
only concern there was her daughter and then her welfare – some people just
have no class...
Lily and Penelope
They were both about five seven or eight in height, one
with long blonde hair and the other shorter, copper brown, cut in a bob. As they turned up a side street, the hubbub
died down to a peaceful calm, which seemed to make them more anxious as they
walked up to a door and knocked.
The door was opened by a young Pakistani girl, who was
wearing a green tunic with white trim, green pants and golden sandals on her
feet. A large white scarf with a floral
print was wrapped around her head and shoulders, covering her brown hair.
“Yes,” she said as she looked at the two women.
“Hello,” the blonde haired one said “IS your mother or
father home?”
“My mother is, my father is away.”
The other woman smiled and said “May we speak to her
please?”
As the girl turned round and walked into the house, the
blonde haired woman said “I don’t like ti when kids get involved, Penny?”
“I know Lily,” the other one said as they slipped in,
Lily slipping some leather gloves over her hands as she closed the door, “but
Madame is most insistent we retrieve the information from here. We shall just have to make the best of it.”
The girl walked back into the corridor, bringing with her
a woman in her early forties. She was
wearing a brown tunic decorated with a white floral theme, matching pants and
silver slippers, while a chocolate brown scarf covered her head and shoulders.
“May I help you,” she said as she looked at Lily and
Penny.
“I believe so,” Penny said with a smile. “Madame X sends her compliments, and asks for
the package.”
“I see,” the woman said, “he has left it, but what does
it mean for us?”
“Some inconvenience, I regret to say,” Penny replied as
she opened her coat, and drew several hanks of rope from the inside, “and for
your charming daughter. In return,
however – Lilian?”
Lily opened her coat, and drew out a brown envelope which
she handed to the woman. “Payment in
full, tickets and passports for your trip to Lahore in the New Year – so that
you can visit your father. That would be
exciting, wouldn’t it?”
The little girl looked at her mother, and said “We’re
going to see Daddy?”
“We are,” her mother said, “but we need to spend some
time playing a game of still and quiet, with the help of these ladies. Go to the toilet, and then we can begin. They will be with me in the front room.”
As she ran up the stairs, the older woman escorted Lily
and Penny into the front room, before opening a drawer and taking out a brown
package. Placing it on the table, she
said “You will make ti look like a robbery?”
“We will,” Penny said as she unravelled a length of rope,
“Lily will take care of that while I secure you and your daughter. Madame thanks you for your co-operation.”
She nodded and then sat in an old armchair, resting her
arms on the open armrests. “Would you
object if I was comfortable? My daughter
will use the recliner.”
“Of course,” Penny said as she passed the rope around her
waist and secured her to the chair back.
As she tied the rope off, her daughter came back in and said “Where
shall I go?”
“Sit over there,” Lily said as she took another length of
rope, “and put your hands behind your back.
I promise you, it will not hurt...”
Half an hour later, Penny gave the young girl a gentle
kiss on her forehead, smiling as she said “Fnkstthssfn” through the silver tape
that covered her mouth. She lay on her
side, her arms pinned behind her back and ropes around her ankles, legs and
stomach, as she looked at her mother.
The older woman was secured to the chair, her ankles and
knees tied to the front legs on the chair, her wrists and elbows to the
armrests, and silver tape covering her mouth as well. She nodded as Penny said “We will inform the
authorities of your predicament in one hour.
Again, our apology for the inconvenience, but ti is for your own
security as well as ours.”
The woman nodded as Lily and Penny took their leave of
the house, coats buttoned up against the cold.
“What is the package anyway,” Lily asked as they walked
down the street, and back into the busy shopping area.
“She would not say, save it’s a present for someone,” was
Penny’s answer as they melded into the crowd...
Coco and Soo
“The boys of
the NYPD Choir were singing Galway Bay,
“And the
bells were ringing out, for Christmas Day...”
“Well, the
holiday season will soon be over, “ Sadja said as she looked at her mother. Nadia was standing behind the counter,
nodding as her daughter locked away the last case of gold jewellery. It had been a busy day, but they would soon
be home.
The door to
the shop opening and closing made Nadia look up. Two women came in, one with tightly curled
black hair and clear brown eyes, and the younger one with straight blonde hair
and blue eyes. They were dressed in
black overcoats, their boots visible underneath, and had their hands in their
pockets. The other thing Nadia noted was
they were, to put it bluntly, fat.
It was a
little unusual for westerners to come into their store, but business was
business, so Sadja said “Good evening – can we help you?”
“Yes, I
believe you can,” the smaller of the two women said as she produced a gun and
pointed it at her, “You can stay there while your daughter locks the front door
and puts the sign to closed.”
“Oh my god,”
Sadja said as she raised her hands to her mouth, revealing her bare belly. She was wearing a green and red sari over a
burnt ochre top and a long red skirt, while her mother had a green and red sari
over a gold and red top and skirt.
“Please,” the
younger girl said as she produced a similar gun and pointed it at Sadja, “do as
my mother says. It’s getting late, and
she gets cranky at times.”
Nadia nodded
as her daughter walked to the front of the store, locking and turning the sign
to closed before she pulled the internal shutters down. “Now then,” the older woman said with a
smile, “my daughter here s going to take care of your daughter, while you empty
all of that lovely jewellery into my bag here.
Oh – and don’t think of touching that hidden alarm. It might be the last thing you do.”
Nadia
blanched as she moved her hand away from under the counter, watching as the
young woman took Sadja and pulled her arms behind her back, holding her wrist
together as she produced a length of cord.
“All right,” she eventually said as she unlocked the first cabinet and
drew a tray of gold chains out “Just don’t hurt her please.”
“You do your
job, and we’ll do ours,” she said as Sadja felt her wrists being bound tightly
together, the rope going around them three times and between them twice, before
the ends were tied out of reach of her fingers.
The young woman then reached into her coat again, drew out a longer
length of cord and used it to bind her arms to her side, below her chest, and
then above, passing each side three times before the bands were pulled together
behind her back.
Nadia watched
her daughter being bound as she emptied tray after tray into the bag, the older
woman smiling as she watched. The
younger woman was now kneeling at Sadja’s feet, pushing her legs up before she
secured her ankles together with cords, and then her legs below her knees,
gathering her skirt around her legs as she did so.
“Why are you
doing this,” Sadja said as the woman unwound the matching scarf from her neck,
pulling it taut as she looked at her.
“Why
else? For profit,” she said as she
pulled eat scarf into the young Asian woman’s mouth, winding it round her head
several times before she bound the ends tightly together at the side of her
neck. The band held her tongue down and
held her lips apart, muffling any sound she tried to make.
“Now,” the
older woman said as her daughter went behind the counter and pulled Nadia’s
arms behind her back, “Please tell me the combination to your safe. It would be such a shame if I had to blow the
door off, but that can be arranged as well...”
“No – I will
tell you,” Nadia said as he wrists and arms were bound as tightly as her
daughter, before she was made to sit on the opposite side of the floor and her
legs bound as well. The older woman
smiled and sent into the back of the store, while Nadia was gagged with her own
scarf as well.
The two women
watched as the younger intruder continued to empty the jewellery into the bag,
keeping an eye on them the whole time, until her older accomplice came back
in. “Let’s go,” she said as she opened
the front door, turning off the lights before they closed it again, leaving the
other two to struggle on the floor.
An hour
later, Soo Angarack walked up to the front door of her employer’s house, using
her key to let herself in and closing the door behind her.
“Coco,” she
called out, smiling as she saw Colette Aldington, Coco to her friends, look out
of the office at the rear of the house.
“Good
journey,” she said as she looked at her, her periwinkle blue eyes glistening
through her glasses as she smiled. She
was wearing a grey cardigan over a matching jumper, slacks and black shoes –
unlike Soo’s garb of a denim blouse over a multicoloured roll neck sweater, a
knee length skirt and bright red leggings.
“Comfortable,”
was Soo’s reply as she placed her bag on the table in the office, revealing the
jewellery from their raid. “I’ll go and
put the kettle on.”
“Before I
forget,” Coco said as she turned to leave the room, “Are you still staying
local for the Christmas break?”
“Well, given
my folks are in Barbados, yes. Why?”
“You have an
invite to Christmas dinner – Maggie and Hettie are cooking.”
“What about
Chloe?”
“She’ll be
there too – why?”
“Just
wondering what the after dinner games are going to be...”
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