In Their Own Words – Granny Comes Too

This week, on In Their Own Words, we return to a past topic – home invasions where grandmothers find themselves held with their grandchildren. Our first tale is from South London, as Audrey tells of one night at home with her grandmother some years ago…

I was only seven at the time, and I was spending the afternoon with my very glamorous granny. She was in her early fifties, and loved to dress in nice clothes, but what she really loved was to wear very, very long boots.

This particular day, she was smiling as we baked cookies together. She was wearing a red jumper and a tartan skirt, with black leather boots that came up over her knees.

Me? Come on, I was seven – a light blue jacket and purple jogging pants with white trainers. But we were having fun – so when the woman came in, wearing the scarves that covered their mouths, I smiled at them. Gran didn’t however – she asked what they were doing there, and one of them said they had come to ROB HER!

She then looked at me, and told me I had to be brave, as the second woman pulled a chair away from the table and told me to sit on it. She then took form a bag a roll of green washing line, and wrapped it round me so that I was held firmly against the chair back, and my arms were held to my sides.

She then wrapped the rope round the seat so that my legs were held down, before tying it off and telling me to sit quietly – they were going to tie my gran to another seat.

They did something different with her though. They first took her arms round the chair back, and did something so that she could not bring them back round, before they would the green rope round her body and arms so that she was pressed against the chair back as well. They then tied her ankles together with the rope, and pulled them under the chair so that neither of us could really move.

As the masked women left the kitchen, Gran kept talking to me, so that it was like we were just sitting there – we even started singing some of my favourite songs before we heard the front door open and close.

Gran then said we should start to shout for help as loudly as we could, so we both did that for about fifteen minutes, before her next door neighbour came in and found us. The masked women had taken some of Gran’s nice jewellery, but she said I had been a very brave girl while they were there.

Which was nice…

For our next story, Nora tells of what happened when a masked intruder surprised her and her granddaughter.

Ellie was about seven years old when this happened, and I was watching her while her mother went for a job interview. We had just been out to the park, so Ellie was wearing a grey hooded tracksuit with pink bands round her arms, the jacket over a grey t-shirt and that over a red top, as well as grey trainers, her black hair in two pigtails.

As for me, I was wearing a long sleeved blue top over a black bra, and faded jeans with the legs tucked into a very comfortable pair of baggy black boots. We walked into the home – and that was when he grabbed Elsie and put his hand over her mouth.

He was tall, and broad shouldered, dressed in black, but I knew he meant business as he told me not to move, and to tell Elsie to stop struggling and do what he said. I told her that, but she was crying as she ran over and hugged me.

He then reached into the pocket of his leather jacket, and took out a roll of white tape, which he then used to tape Elsie’s wrists together in front of her before he covered her mouth with strips of the tape. He then picked her up in his arms and told me to walk up the stairs in front of him, and go into my bedroom.

I told Elsie to be still as we walked up, and we went into my bedroom, the man putting Elsie down on the bed before he took the roll of tape and taped her ankles and legs together. She then watched as he told me to give him all my jewellery – and I did what he asked, because I didn’t want Elsie to be hurt in any way whatsoever.

He then told me to lie on the bed next to my granddaughter, and she watched as he taped my wrists tightly together, and then my ankles and well as my legs below my knees, and then she saw him press length after length of white tape over my mouth as well so that ?I could not call for help.

He left us there, wriggling and trying to get our wrists and mouths free, as he left the house. Elsie only got the tape off her mouth when she rubbed her mouth on my top, and managed to peel the end free followed by all the sticky stuff – she was very brave doing that was well…

Shona had a surprise from her working grandmother – a surprise that backfired on her…

It wasn’t my fault that I had to spend the day at Grandma’s – or hers that she had to work that day as well. What happened, however…

Mum dropped me off as Grandma stood in the door of her house. She has long brown hair, and was wearing her burgundy jacket over a white top, a wide black belt fastened round her waist, as well as a long leopard print skirt and high black boots. As for me, I was more casual – a yellow t-shirt with black stars over a white top, jeans and trainers, and my hair pulled back. I even had my glasses on – which I hate.

Anyway, I waved Mum off and came into the house – and instantly saw this was going to be a quiet morning for me. Grandma had her laptop set up for a conference – and if I had to stay whole she did that, I knew what she was going to do.

That, and the roll of red tape she picked up – so fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in a chair, a band of red tape around me and the chair back as well as my arms and body, and a damp cloth in my mouth before it had been covered with eve more of the red tape. She’d also taped my ankles and my legs, so that the tape crinkled as I lifted them up and down, before she turned the television on for me to watch and she went to her desk – the laptop unable to see me, and her headphones and microphone meaning they could not hear me either.

It also meant I could not tell her what I could see through the room to the hallway – the two men coming in, wearing black clothing and masks, one of them putting a gloved finger to his lips when he saw me before they went up the stairs.

Grandma was so into her meeting she wasn’t paying much attention to me. I just had to sit there and watch as the two masked men watched her from the kitchen, until she finished the meeting – and that was when one put a gloved hand over her mouth, while the other pulled her arms behind the chair back and started to tie her up with rope.

When they had finished, she was tied securely to the chair back, her ankles bound and tied to the front leg of the chair, while one worked on her computer and the other gagged her with the same red tape she had used on me. They then left us there, Grandma struggling in her chair to try and raise the alarm, while I could not stop myself from laughing quietly.

But in the end, I had to do something, so I managed to get the tape off my mouth once it had sweated around there enough to get the tape free, and shout for help until someone came in and found us...

Sometime, family games are a mere prelude to another, far more exciting one…

Cissy and I loved to play games with Granny, especially escape games, and that Saturday morning was no exception. We usually spent Saturdays at her house, and she always did what we wanted.

I must have been nine, and Cissy eight, but I do remember I was wearing a pale blue football top with white tyre print on the shoulders, and matching blue and white striped shorts. Cissy had on a pink t-shirt ad grey leggings with a white print on them, and we both had on white socks and trainers.

As for Granny, she had been shopping before we arrived, so she was wearing a light grey dress over a black dress, black tights and knee length leather boots, but she gave us both a big hug when we came in and gave us both a big glass f milk and some biscuits while she put the food away. Granny and I both have blonde hair, while Cissy has Mum’s red brown colour of hair.

Anyway, after we had finished our snack, Granny asked if we wanted to try an escape challenge – we’d done it before, and we both thought it was great fun, so we nodded and watched as she put two chairs back to back, and told us both to sit down while she fetched a big ball of string from a drawer.

Tying the end of the roll round the back of the chair I was sitting in, she then started to wind it round both me and Cissy, forcing us to sit up straight as it went around the chairs, as well as around our own bodies as she took the ball of string between the gaps in the chair backs. The way she did it meant that not only were we tide to the chair backs at our bodies, but our arms were tied at our elbows to the chair backs, and then she wound it down and tied Cissy’s ankles together – then took it under the chairs and tied mine together as well, then cu the end loose and tied it to Cissy’s chair.

It didn’t hurt – we knew we would be able to get out after a while, because Granny always left a pair of scissors where one of us could reach it – after a while, of course. But right then, we were happy to wriggle round and pretend to call for help while Granny started to prepare lunch – and that was when the doorbell went.

She told us to be quiet while she went to see who it was, leaving the scissors on the table – out of reach of both of us, but I reckoned it was just the postman, and said that to Cissy. She laughed as she put the back of her head against mine, and we both listened to Granny as she opened the door.

We could hear her talking quietly, and then the door closed – but there were two sets of footsteps. Cissy asked me if I knew what was going on, but I didn’t – we could both turn our heads and see the doorway, but Granny didn’t come back into the kitchen.

Someone else did though – a young woman wearing a denim jacket and jeans. She looked at me and Cissy, and put a finger to her lips before she picked up a white napkin, rolled it into a band, and then I heard Cissy make some sort of muffled noise.

I found out why a few minutes later, when she rolled up a second napkin and told me to open my mouth before she pulled it between my lips and tied it round my head. She then went out as I felt for and held Cissy’s hand.

The front door opened and closed, and then I saw Granny jump into the room. Her hands were behind her back, and she had rope around her ankles and holding her skirt against her legs, as well as a black cloth tied between her lips like we had. She jumped over to the table and managed to pick up the scissors, nodding at us as she started to free herself…

Earlier we told a tale of two in a bed. For our next story, young Gale tells the tale of four in a bed…

“Well, he’s quiet now.”

I laughed as Granny and her friend Mabel looked at Jimmy, my little brother. Granny was wearing a pink fleece, blue jeans and flat brown shoes, while Mabel had a padded white jacket over a white top and a short grey skirt, dark hose and brown boots with a fur cuff.

Why were they laughing at Jimmy? Because I had dared him to let me tape him up and he should try to escape. He’s eight, and was wearing a grey sweatshirt with a baseball print, blue jeans and pink socks with white spots. He was also wearing a big grin – well, at least I think he was, because the blue tape I had wrapped round his head was keeping him quiet.

As for not moving, I had taped his wrists together behind his back, and then taped his legs together at his knees while he was standing there. He certainly did not seem unhappy, because he was twisting round and trying to talk.

Granny was laughing as she took out her phone and took a picture of Johnny – and then she looked at me. Mabel laughed as she picked up the roll of blue tape, and said “well, I guess you need to be the same as well.”

“Can /I take my glasses off first?”

“Sure,” Mabel said as I removed my big glasses, folded the legs and put them on the table, and then put my own hands behind my back. I was wearing a grey top, pale blue pants and dark pink socks with white spots, and I wasn’t afraid – especially when I felt the tape stick to my wrists and then start to hold them together.

Mabel then tore the tape and patted it down, before she felt down and I felt my own knees been brought together. I glanced down to see the blue band, and then put my lips together as Granny lifted my long brown hair out of the way, and Mabel wrapped the blue tape round my head, covering my mouth as it made sure that, like Johnny, I could only mumble.

Granny smiled as she took a photo of both of us, and Mabel said “why don’t you two have a dance” as she turned the radio on. Johnny and I looked at each other as we started to try and dance, Granny laughing as she left the room.

We danced for a few songs, and then Mabel said something about wondering where Granny had got to, so she left the room as well. We kept dancing round, and jumping round the room, but you can imagine our surprise when we were picked up from behind and put over someone’s shoulder.

I was taken behind Johnny, and I could see the man carrying him was wearing a black jacket and pants – and Johnny was kicking his legs up and down, until he was smacked by a black gloved hand on his bottom. I stayed still, as we were taken into Granny’s bedroom.

She and Mabel were lying on the bed, Mabel’s feet at Granny’s head and Granny’s at Mabel’s. They both had their wrists tied together above their heads and to the bed, and their ankles tied in the same way, and they had blue tape over their mouths.

I was laid on my side, my head next to Granny’s, and I felt Johnny behind me – but I felt the heels of his trainers against my head, so I figured his head was against my legs. Granny shook her head and tried to say something, but it was impossible, as the two men left us there to try and get free…

Finally for this week, three generations found themselves secured in the same way…

Mummy told me to treat it as a game, and that certainly helped, but I was scared when the masked men came into Gran’s front room. We were both visiting for tea, and I was wearing a light blue old style dress with capped sleeves, darker blue butterflies and buttons down the front, and grey flip flops. Mummy was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans, and Gran a grey cardigan over a light grey top, a brown skirt and black shoes.

Anyway – we were having a drink when the men came in, wearing blue boiler suits and black gloves, as well as something over their heads that made their faces all blurry. They looked at Gran, and said they needed to use her house for something – and that they had to make sure none of us could get in the way.

That was when they produced the ropes, and one of them told Gran to put her hands behind her back. Mummy and I watched as one of the men went behind her with a length of white rope in his hand, and then he did something – and when he had finished, Gran could not bring her hands back round again.

Another of the men told me to sit on Mummy’s lap, and then told us both to put our hands behind our back. Mummy told me then we would make it a game, so I did what the man said, and then I felt the man wrap the rope round my wrists. He did it a few times, and when he was finished, I could not move my wrists apart – all I could do was wriggle my fingers.

Mummy was the same, as the men then each took more of the rope, and then knelt down as they did to our ankles what they had done to our wrists. It was tight, but not that uncomfortable. I looked at Mummy and smiled as she smiled at me, then we both looked at Granny as the man with her tied her legs together below her knees.

We then had our legs tied in the same way, before the man with Granny used a much loge length of rope to tie her arms to her body. Mummy got the same, and then they did it to me so that I could only wriggle round.

Mummy giggled when I did that, so I knew it would be all right – even when they pressed something over my mouth to stop me talking. It tugged on the skin of my face, so I guessed it was tape – and when I saw the pink tape over Mummy’s mouth, I knew what it was.

Granny got some tape put over her mouth as well, and then they turned the television on, so we just sat there and watched television, one of the masked men sitting with us while the others did – whatever it was they were intending to do.

It was getting dark when they peeled the tape form our mouths, and helped us all to have something to eat and drink before they put the tape back over, and then we were left with one of the men again – but an hour or so later, he went as well and we were left alone, wondering what had happened.

What had happened is another story, for another episode of In Their Own Words…

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