In Their Own Words – Auld Lang Syne
In this time of lockdown, almost
everyone saw New Year’s Eve for 2021 in in their homes. In this special live edition of In Their Own
Words, we talk to five families for whom it was a very different evening.
In the case of Astrid, the two children
she was in charge of as the nanny joined her in a special game…
Mister and Mrs
Arbuthnot have employed me to look after Jessica and Charles for six months
now, and this was my first holiday season away from home – but it was exciting
in one way.
At about six
o’clock on the 31st, I was with my charges as they finished their
supper. Jessica is four, and was wearing
a brown wool dress with short sleeves and a pink rose stitched on the front, as
well as pink tights with coloured dots.
Charles, the six year old son, was wearing a white shirt, khaki pants
and slippers.
Me? I had on a black dress with a black and white
striped cardigan over it, a silver belt round my waist, dark tights and my
brown leather boots, with a blue and white scarf tied round my neck, hanging
down the front.
Anyway – the
children were just finishing their meal, when I heard some noises outside the
room we were in. It sounded like Mr
Arbuthnot was shouting at someone, so I looked out to see what was going on –
and saw the masked man standing there, before he forced me to walk back into
the room, closing the door behind himself as he looked at us.
Jessica and
Charles just kept looking at him as I told them not to be afraid, and we would
do whatever he said – so he told me to take my boots off, and then for us to
sit on the floor, the two kids to the side of me.
I did this,
showing my covered feet and then sat down with my legs to the side, the two
children sitting by me as the masked man told them to put their hands together in
prayer in front of themselves. As they
did this, he produced a ball of twine, and started to tie Charles’ wrists
tightly together in front of himself while Jessica and I watched.
He then made
Charles put his legs straight out, and took the twine down to tie his ankles
together, before he produced a penknife and cut the twine away. He then did the same to Jessica as I told
them both to be brave, and that we would soon be finished here.
Once he had
tied Jessica’s wrists and ankles, he made them move so their backs were against
me, and he told me to hug them both and put my hands together in front of
myself. That meant they were pressed
right up against me, as I watched the intruder tie my own wrists and ankles
together in the same way as theirs.
Then he walked
behind me and removed my scarf, before he pulled it between my lips, filling my
mouth and making it almost impossible for me to talk to the children. I wondered what he was going to do to them –
and then I watched as he rolled up the two napkins they had used when eating,
and made them let him push them into their mouths, the edges sticking out as
they tried to look at me.
The man stayed
in the room for a while, as I listened to the sounds outside – and then he just
left, as both Jessica and Charles tried to move against me.
IT was an hour
later when Mrs Arbuthnot came in, and I could see the marks on her wrists as
she cut us free with some scissors…
Next up, Kylie tells us about the way
she spent the last day of 2020…
I’m Kylie, and
I’m ten. I live with my Mummy in the
centre of London, and I love her very much – especially now.
We usually go
to a party on the last day of the year, but we could not this year, so we
decided to dress up and have a party in our flat. I put on a black top and red spangly pants,
as well as long black boots that I love, and finally I put a red bow in my
blonde hair.
Mummy was
dressed just like me – a black top, red spangly pants, but she had on grey
heels. We were dancing to music, and
having fun, when the man came in. He was
dressed in denim, and had something pulled down over his head that made his
face look funny - but he also had a gun, and he had me with his hand over my
mouth as he told Mummy to do what he told her to do.
She nodded, and
said not to hurt me, as he told her to sit down with her hands on her head, and
told me not to make a sound. I nodded as
Mummy watched, and then he took my hands behind my back, and I felt something
rubbing on my wrists – before I realised I could not move my hands apart.
I was getting
scared, and started to cry as the man then put something round my arms and body
– I saw it was rope, that made it impossible for me to move my arms apart
before he told me to sit on the couch.
Mummy said it
was going to be all right as he knelt in front of me, and smiled as he used
some more of the rope to tie my ankles tightly together, and then to tie my
legs together below my knees. My boots squeaked
after that as I tried to move my legs apart – and my pants squeaked as well.
The man then
told me to open my mouth, and he pulled a rolled up black scarf between my
lips, then tied it tightly round my head as I felt it pressing my tongue
down.
He then made me
lie down, as I watched him go over to Mummy and make her stand up, before he
told me not to move, and I’d be with Mummy soon. She nodded as he took her out of the room,
and I twisted round while the music kept playing.
A while later,
he came back in and picked me up, then carried me into Mummy’s bedroom – and
there she was, lying on her side on the bed, a scarf between her lips and ropes
round her body as well. He laid me down
next to her, and I felt her lips on my forehead before he left us there.
We could hear
the fireworks and the bells before Mummy managed to get the scarf out of my
mouth, and I did the same for her, then started to pick at the knots at her
wrists with my teeth. We were soon free,
and she hugged me as I cried against her…
Next up, allow Dave (not his real name)
to explain what happened when he broke into a house on New Year’s Eve in a
suburb of Nottingham…
I have to say,
I took every precaution – I had been tested and was negative, and I wore a
black mask over my nose and mouth as well as dark glasses and surgical gloves
in addition to my usual dark clothing.
So I found the house, walked round the back, managed to unlock the door,
walked in – and there was the mother with her two children.
She was wearing
a red cowl necked sweater over a red top, her long black hair over her white
fur gillet, and black riding boots over the legs of her white pants. The twins looked to be about eight years old
– the girl wearing a white fur gillet over her red wool sweater with a white
t-shirt underneath, blue leggings with coloured dogs on them, and brown Ugg
boots with a white fur trim, her black hair in two pigtails.
As for her twin
brother, he had on a white jumper with a check on one side at the front, red
sleeves and a grey collar and cuffs, jeans and brown boots. They were staring at me as I told them I
wasn’t going to hurt them, but I needed to make sure they all stayed in one
place while I had a look round.
Their mother
nodded and said to the twins they were going to play a game – I guess she had
heard of some rivals of mine – and said she would take care of them before I
took care of her. Nodding, I reached
into my bag and tossed her a roll of silver tape, as she told the kids to take
their boots off, and sit on the couch.
She then put
her daughter’s hands together, palm to palm, and then taped her wrists and
hands together, before she wound the tape round her ankles as well. She then did the same to her son, before
telling them both to smile before she covered their mouths with strips of the
tape.
They then
watched as she sat between them and removed her boots, before she taped her own
ankles together and covered her own mouth with strips of the tape, then handed
the roll back to me as she put her hands together in front of herself. It took me a couple of minutes to tape her
hands and wrists together, before putting some more tape round their arms and
upper bodies to stop them raising their hands too high.
I let them
watch Soul on the television as I went round the house, and then made my way
out – knowing they were having some close time together…
Suzie is eleven years old, and lives
north of the border – so for her, it was Hogmanay, and she and her mother had a
special First Foot…
It was just before
midnight, and we were watching Susan Calman on the television when things
started to happen. Mum and I were
casually dressed – I had on a black and white checked top with elbow length
sleeves, patched jeans, and short black felt boots, while Mum was wearing a
white smock top, ripped jeans and brown felt boots.
Anyway – it was
ten minutes to the bells, and Mum had to go upstairs to the toilet. I was watching something as part of the
program, so it took me a while to realise she had not come down – until the
bells sounded, the people on the television sang Auld Lang Syne, and I realised
she had not come back. I stood up to go
and see what had happened – and that was when she came in.
She was dressed
in black, with a mask over her eyes, and she smiled as she said Mum was
upstairs, and she was going to take me to join her – once she had tied me
up. I then saw the lengths of cord in
her gloved hand, and swallowed as she told me to lie face down on the couch,
and put my hands behind my back.
Well, I didn’t
really have a choice, and as I did that I asked where my Mum was. All the masked woman said was I would be with
her soon, as I felt her crossing my wrists, and then I felt the rope rubbing on
my wrists as she tied them tightly together.
She then tied
my ankles together, before I felt her tying my legs together below my
knees. I tried to wriggle round, and
then she turned me over and sat me up.
The way the rope had sunk into the fabric of my boots took me by
surprise, and so did the fact she was wrapping something round my arms to make
them stay against my sides, meaning I really could not move.
I was scared
now, and wanted to say something – but she stopped me doing that as well, by
pushing a sponge ball into my mouth, and then tying a folded up scarf tightly
round me head. I looked as if I was in a
television program or a film, a captive – but I really could not talk!
She smiled at
me and patted my cheek – and then she lifted me up so that I was over her
shoulder, kicking my legs up and down as she carried mw up the stairs and into
Mum’s room.
Mum was lying
on her side, tied up just like I was and with a folded scarf tied round her
head and covering her mouth – but as I was dropped on the bed next to her, I
saw that her legs were bent back and tied to the ropes round her arms and
chest.
So guess what
happened to me next?
Yup – I felt
her roll me onto my side, looking at Mum as my legs were pulled back, and then
I could not move them anymore. We just had
to lie there, looking at each other as she left us on the bed.
Once we were
finally found by Dad, and freed, she told me she had disturbed the robber in
the bedroom, and she had been tied up and kept quiet while the woman came down
for me. We weren’t hurt – but we were
scared….
Finally for this edition, one family had
some really close time together. John,
the father, tells the story…
It was about
nine in the evening, and we were about to send Rhona and Henry to bed when the
armed and masked gang burst in. We had
been out for the day, and were still in our walking clothes.
For Ethel, my
wife, that meant a blue jumper, and dark jeans tucked into mid-calf brown boots
with a fur trim. Rhona, who’s ten, also
had the same type of boots on over the legs of her pants, but she was wearing a
long sleeved white top with a striped scarf wrapped loosely round her neck.
Henry is nine,
and had on a checked shirt with jeans and brown shoes – I also had jeans and
brown shoes on, but my shirt was a much darker brown. That was irrelevant, however – because there
were five armed and masked men in the room with us, pointing guns at us and
telling not to move or make a sound.
Ethel was
hugging the children tightly, as one of the men made me stand up, and pulled my
hands behind my back. I told them we
would all be all right, and to be brave, as I felt the rope pulled tightly
around my wrists, forcing them together.
More rope was
then tied round my arms and upper body, as another of the men made Ethel stand
up, the kids crying as he started to bind her wrists together behind her back
as well. She also had ropes tied round
her upper body, before the man turned her round and I heard a ripping sound behind
me.
I was then
turned round, and white tape pressed down firmly over my mouth and jaw, before
I was pushed onto the couch, Ethel forced to sit next to me and looking at me
with her eyes wide over the white tape.
The two men
then knelt down and tied our ankles together, as well as our legs below our
knees, while two more made Rhona and Henry face each other and took their hands
behind their backs. I wanted to tell
them to remain calm, not to cry, but as the two men tied the rope tightly round
their wrists I could hear Rhona softly sobbing.
It was Henry
who told her to be brave, and we would all get through this together, as they
also had their arms tied tightly against their sides. I wanted to cry, but I had to be strong as
Ethel rubbed her head on my shoulder.
Our children
were then gagged with the tape in the same way as we were – before they were
sat back to back on our laps, Rhona on my lap and Henry on Ethel’s. One of the men then took Rhona’s scarf and
tied it round both of them, holding them together as two more tied their ankles
together, and then their legs below their knees.
So there we
were, tied up, gagged, the kids unable to move and us unable to move because they
were sitting on us. We could only watch the
masked man who stood guard over us, as the others ransacked the house. 2020 was not a good year, and it was not ending
well – we could only pray 2021 was better…
As do we all. This had been In Their Own Words – join us
again soon.
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