In Their Own
Words – Match Up
For this
edition of In Their Own Words, we have memories again of matching generations –
starting with a childhood memory of Anthea…
This was in the
early sixties – I would have been about eight years old, and on high days and
Sundays I used to wear similar clothes to those my mother would wear. On the day in question, my mother was wearing
a dark green velvet dress with a high collar, a matching silk ribbon round the
neck and held with a brooch at her throat.
The dress had long sleeves and the skirt came down to cover her knees, a
thin green belt round her waist. She was
also wearing matching heels.
As for me, I
was wearing a matching dress in terms of the green velvet, but mine had short
sleeves, and the skirt was a tiered one that came to my knees. The ribbon I had round my neck was tied in a
bow at my throat, and I had on white ankle socks and black flat shoes.
We had been to
church that morning, both of us wearing long coats over our dresses, but my
father had gone to his club for the afternoon, so both of us went back to our
home. It was only when we walked in and
I was grabbed from behind, a hand pressed down over my mouth that we knew
something was not quite right.
A man had
appeared in the doorway of the dining room, wearing a black jacket over a roll
necked sweater and trousers, and he had a gun in his hand. My mother was shocked, as he told her to take
her coat off, then looked at me and told me not to scream, and the hand would
be taken away.
I nodded as the
hand was removed, and I took my coat off, the man taking it and my mother’s
before he told us to walk into the dining room.
As we went in, there were two dining chairs set back from the table, and
he told us to sit down, with our hands on our laps. Mother told me to do as he said, and so I sat
down as she sat next to me.
The man who had
been covering my mouth with his hand walked behind me and told me to lean forward,
and as I did so he took my arms back. I
could feel him taking them between the slats in the chairback, and then the
rope as he tied my wrists together, before I felt them against the wood of the
chair back. He then tied some rope round
my waist and body so that ‘I was held firmly against that same chair back.
I watched as he
took my mother’s arms round the back of her chair, and then used brown rope to
secure her wrists together, and tied them to her chair back. He then used a longer rope to make sure her
back was pressed against the chair back,
while the first man put his gun down and knelt in front of me, wrapping more brown
rope round the white socks covering my ankles.
He took the
rope around and between my legs, and then tied another length round my legs
below my knees. He then went over to
Mother, and tied her ankles together before he took them to the side and tied
them to the front leg of the chair, before securing her legs together above her
knees, gathering the skirt of her dress around her legs as he did so.
We looked at
each other as the man left the room – and the one behind us told me to open my
mouth. When I did so, he pulled a rolled
up white napkin between my lips and tied it round my head. It hurt at the corners of my mouth, but I had
to watch as he did the same to my mother, and then we looked at each
other. I could see the white turning to
grey at the corners of her mouth, but neither of us could move, neither of us
could talk.
IT was that way
even after they left, and until my father came back from the club – and I
remember he and mother discussing that well into the night afterwards…
Of course, matching
outfits for mother and daughter are not exactly something from the past – ask
Elsie and her daughter Babs…
It was a
typical weekend afternoon, and Mum had put on a crimson top – a sleeveless one,
with a diamond pattern that looked like it was from India. The top went all the way down to below her
knees, like a tabard so that below her waist it was split into two panels, a
thin belt round her waist. She was also
wearing denim jeans with designed rips, and a pair of open toed flat sandals.
Why did I know
it looked good on her? Because mine
looked good on me. I’m thirteen, and I
was also wearing faded blue jeans with the cuffs of the legs turned up, as well
as flat brown sandals. A red hairband
held my own brown hair back from my forehead.
We had planned to
go shopping – but the back door opening as we sat in the kitchen, and the two
older teenage girls who came in waving knives around kind of put paid to that
plan. Mum just looked at me, and told me
to stay calm, that they would not hurt us if we did what they said.
I was all for
screaming and running out of the house, but one of the girls walked over and
put her knife against my throat, so I decided Mum was right on this one.
I had to sit
very still as the second girl pulled what looked like a plastic strip from out
of her jacket pocket, and then pulled Mum’s hands behind her back. I heard a rasping sound as Mum bit her lower
lip, and then the girl took her by the arm and made her stand up.
“Put the kid in
the front room,” she said as they walked out, and I was made to walk into our
front room. The girl then made me lie face
down on the couch, as she took my hands behind my back.
I saw her take
another strip out of her pocket, and then I felt it round my wrists as there
was the rasping sound, and my wrists were forced together. I looked over my shoulder to see her use
another strip to force my ankles together, before I was rolled over and a rag
pushed inside my mouth.
I had to lie on
my side and watch as her partner frog marched my mum back into the room, the
edges of some sort of cloth sticking out of her lips. She was made to lie on the floor as I watched
her use another of those strips to secure her ankles together, but I was too
scared to try and help – even if I could.
They left us
there, our wrists and ankles secured and the cloth in our mouths, as they ran
out of the house. Mum then started to
twist her head as she pushed the cloth out, and I realised it was – a pair of her
panties. She then started to shout for
help – and a short while later, a neighbour came in and found us…
For Sharon
and her two daughters, identical clothing was followed by identical binding…
Well, Helen was
ten, and Sally six when this happened.
We had been to a school fete, in the height of a warm spring, and all
three of us were wearing the same clothes – a yellow t-shirt with a blue bib
dress, looking like dungarees but with a skirt that came to the knees of my
girls, and a little shorter for me. We
were also all wearing yellow flat shoes.
Back then, I
had long bleached blonde hair, but both my daughters had long hair their
natural colour of black. Anyway – it was
later afternoon when we got home and went into our house – but as I followed
the girls in, I was pushed into the hallway and the door closed behind me. They
both turned and screamed when they saw whoever had pushed me in – but when the
dep voice told them to shut up, I turned and looked.
He was wearing
a suit, shirt and tie- but he had latex gloves on his hands, and a stocking
pulled down over his face. I looked at
the girls, and held them as he ordered all three of us to go up the stairs, and
into my bedroom.
The girls were
crying, but I kissed them both on the heads and told them we would be all
right, they just had to be brave. The
man then told Helen and Suzie to lie face down on my bed, and put their hands
by their sides. When they did this, he
opened satchel he was holding, and handed me a roll of white tape, telling me I
was to tape the wrists of my girls together behind their backs, and then tape
their ankles together.
That scared
them even more, but I said I would let them feel what the tape was like first,
so I peeled two short strips off and put them on their arms. They both said it felt soft, so I told them I
would not hurt them, before I crossed Helen’s wrists and taped them tightly
together.
Suzie asked her
sister if it hurt her, and Helen shook her head as I wound the tape round her
ankles. I then did the same to Suzie,
telling her everything would be all right as I did so. Once I was done, he then told me the girls had
to be quiet – and he told them I was going to put some of the tape over their
mouths, and they would need to lie still and not struggle.
I added to
this, saying I was going to be like them soon, and we could all lie still
together, so they nodded as I took their hair away from their faces, peeled a
strip of tape from the roll, and then covered their mouths. They had to watch as the man forced me to put
my jewels and valuables into his satchel, and then he taped my wrists together
behind my back and covered my mouth before I lay between my daughters.
He then taped
my ankles together, the two girls rubbing their cheeks on my shoulders as he
did this, and then he left us there, warning us not to struggle or we may get
into trouble. I was more worried for
them, as we tried to talk to each other until my husband came home…
Of course,
it does not have to be a mother and daughter who get caught up in such a
situation – ask Diana…
I had my nine
year old granddaughter Dana staying for a few days, and she loves to dress up –
and to look like me. This particular
day, I was wearing a red round necked tunic top with short sleeves, and a
yellow skirt with a floral print on it.
Dana loves this skirt – and I had had someone make for her a summer
dress in the same material, with short, puffed sleeves and a pleated skirt that
came down to her knees.
SO it must have
been about nine in the morning, and I was fixing Dana’s hair so that it was in
two pigtails, when there was a knock on the door. I told her to sit down as I went to see who
was there – and it was a young woman, wearing a black leather jacket over a
roll neck sweater, leggings and long black boots. But she also had a stocking pulled down over
her head, and she smiled as she told me to walk quietly back in, with my hand
sin the air.
The pistol she
was holding was enough to convince me, as she followed me in and closed the
door behind herself. I asked her what
was ging on, and she said she only wanted my valuables – and to play a game
with me and my granddaughter.
Then I knew who
she was, as she told me to turn round and put my hands behind my back. She was wearing a rucksack which she took
off, and I then felt her cross my wrists before the rope rubbed on them as they
were bound tightly together.
I asked her
what she was going to do, and she said I had to pretend this was a special game
that I had arranged for Dana – that way she would not be afraid, and we may
even enjoy what was going to happen.
Well, I was no going to upset her, so as I saw her pass rope round my
upper body, I said I would do what she asked if she promised not to hurt either
of us.
It felt strange
to have the rope force my arms against my sides, around my waist and my upper arms,
but she tied that off and then told me to walk into the front room. Dana looked at me, and her eyes were wide open
as she asked me what was going on.
I looked at her
and told her this was a special surprise game, the lady was pretending to be a
bad robber, and she was going to make sure both of us stayed in the front room
until someone came to our rescue. The
lady nodded as she told Dana to come over and see what she had done to me, so
my granddaughter came over and looked. I
promised her it didn’t hurt - which was actually true, it did not hurt.
SO I sat down
and watched as the intruder took Dana’s hands behind her back with some rope,
and she giggled as she started to bind her wrists tightly together. I was more concerned if she would feel all
right as the woman then bound her arms to her sides with two bands of rope – on
round her stomach, one round her upper arms – but Dana seemed to be enjoying
the experience. She twisted round as she
tied the ropes off, and then jumped up to sit next to me on the couch as the
masked woman knelt down, and bound my bare ankles tightly together.
She then tied
my legs together below my knees, lifting the edge of my skirt back as she did
so and then replacing it. It felt so
strange – the tight bands of rope on my skin, but I felt – safe?
“My turn!”
I had to suppress
a laugh as she then tied Dana’s ankles together, taking the rope around and
between her bare legs in the same way she had done with me. Dana was really going to be like me, which meant
she was happy in her own way – especially when the hem of her pleated skirt was
folded back, and her legs were tied together as well before the skirt was
replaced.
The masked
woman then said if we both promised not to talk out loud or shout for help, we
could talk for a little while. I said we
would both behave, as she left us in the front room – closing the curtains
first and turning the television on. We
had planned to watch a My Little Pony film anyway, so I said when the lady came
back, I would get her to put it on so we could watch for the next part of the
game, and we watched Paw Patrol for a while.
When she came
back, I asked her to do that, and she agreed – but she also said she had to
make sure we could not call for help. I
told Dana we would be all right, as she peeled a length of black tape from the
roll and then pressed it down over my mouth.
It pulled a little on the skin of my face, but it wasn’t too bed, so I
nodded and watched as she gagged Dana in the same way.
She then
started the film, and Dana out her head against my side as we both watched..
It was
Dana’s mother who found them two hours later, her daughter asleep against her
grandmother. For our last tale today,
let us remind ourselves – it does not have to be a young daughter…
“Are you all
right, Yvonne?”
“I’ll cope
Mum,” my twenty year old daughter said as we stood facing each other. She was wearing a red sweater, tight blue
jeans and gold slippers – and a worried expression as I saw the white rope
going round her upper body. It was
trapping the black and white shawl she had tied round her neck against her
chest, and her arms to her sides.
This had all
started when she called at my workplace – I’m a shop manager, and we were going
to go out for dinner once I had closed up.
Strangely, I was wearing a shirt red jacket with long sleeves over a
dark blue top, jeans and black slippers, so we did look similar.
Before I got a
chance to lock up, however, two men came into the store – and one of them
closed and locked the door as the other pointed a gun at both of us, and made
us walk into the back room. He ordered
us to stand facing each other as his partner came in and placed a sack on the
table – a sack that contained lengths of brown rope.
They had each taken
a length of rope and stood behind us, as we had our hands taken behind our backs,
and I felt the rope rubbing on my wrists as they were bound tightly
together. I could see the concern in
Yvonne’s yes as the second man did the same thing to her, and then I felt the
rope forcing my arms against my sides.
Nobody had even
done this to me before, and it felt so strange.
I thought it would hurt, I would be afraid, but I was coping – more out
of concern for Yvonne than anything else I suspect. I could see the way it was
making her look like her top was stretched – and I could certainly feel the way
it was affecting me.
We were then made
to sit back to back on the floor and bend our knees, as more rope was tied round
my ankles and my legs above my knees – and then from my chest ropes to the band
above my knees so I really could not move.
Then I heard Yvonne grunt before my nose was pinched - and a rag pushed
into my mouth as I tried to breath.
Before I had a chance to push it out, I felt the rope as it was pulled
between my lips and round my head - and Yvonne’s head was pressed against mine,
as I realised the rope had been used to keep us both together and quiet.
We were left
there while they raided the safe and stole my takings - it was an hour or so
before the police found us…
From In
Their Own Words, until next time…
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