Chrystine
and April
“MUM!
Where are the kids?”
“They’re fine – they’ve been tied up in the front room, but they’re unharmed,
and I have their word they will stay that way,” Chrystine said as she saw the
scene in the master bedroom. Tom was lying on his side on the bed, his
wrists crossed and secured together behind his back as well as bands of rope
around his chest and arms, his legs and his ankles, which were pulled back and
tied to his chest. A wide strip of white tape covered his mouth, and it
was obvious something has been pushed into his mouth under it. “How are
you?”
“Scared – not as scared as that time when I was their age…”
“Whttwssthtth,” Tom said as he looked over.
“When April was ten, we were robbed in our house,” Chrystine said quietly, “and
they left us both tied up, like you, on the bed.” She could see April
already had her wrists tied behind her back, and her arms forced into her sides
with bands of rope above and below her chest. “Tommy and Angela are been
very brave about this, just as you were then.”
“Are you going to stay with them?”
“Given the circumstances, I said so at the start,” Chrystine said as she looked
round, the clothes scattered on the floor as well as the empty jewellery boxes,
the safe door open. “So you stay safe up here, and I’ll give them a
message.”
As she watched, April was forced to sit on the bed, one of the men covering her
with the gun as the other crossed and secured her ankles together, and then
secured her legs below her knees, the ropes pressing down on the denim.
“Just tell them to stay calm, and we’ll talk later,” April said before she
opened her mouth, Chrystine watching as a folded cloth was pushed in, and then
the white tape pressed down onto her chin, covering her lips so that the shape
of them could be seen underneath.
“I’ll tell them that,” Chrystine said quietly as she watched her daughter been
hogtied on the bed as she faced her husband, before she nodded and she was
escorted back down the stairs.
From
Chrystine’s Home Visit
March, 2002
Chrystine
smiled as she sat outside the dance school, looking at herself in the rear-view
mirror of the car. She could see the
first hints of grey in her short brown hair, but she was feeling as young as
she wanted to feel. That was mainly
thanks to her fitness regime – she had just been to a class, and was wearing a
grey sloppy joe t-shirt. Her left sleeve
had slipped down her shoulder, to reveal the strap of her black sports bra, and
she was wearing a pair of light blue pants with a fern print no them, as well
as flat soled black slippers.
She turned her
head as the door to the school opened, and mothers started to appear with their
children. She smiled as a ten-year-old girl
ran out and over to her car, jumping into the car and sitting on the booster
seat as Chrystine fastened the seat belt over her.
“How was the
class April,” she said with a smile as she looked at the girl. She had short blonde hair swept back, a thin
black headband with a pink bow on it over her head. She was dressed for ballet – a peach coloured
dance dress with a short skirt and a scoop neckline, white tights and peach
dance slippers.
“Good Mum – we
have the date for the dance show now,” April said with a smile. “Will you and Dad come?”
“I’m sure we
will,” Chrystine said as she set off. “So, we’ll get you home, and then we can
have some mum and daughter time after your tea, all right?”
April nodded as
the car moved out into the flow of traffic…
“Here we are,”
Chrystine finally said as they pulled into the garage of their house, “you go
on in and pour yourself a glass of milk, I’ll close the garage door and then
I’ll sort your tea out.” She handed
April a door key, the girl nodding as she got out of the car and walked round
the front before letting herself into the house. Chrystine got out, closing the car door and
locking it before she pulled the garage door back down.
“Now then,” she
said as she walked into the house, “what do you…”
“Not a word
lady – just close the door, and sit down with your hands where we can see
them.”
Chrystine
looked at the two men standing there, one of them with one hand on April’s
shoulder and the other gloved hand covering her mouth. They were tall, muscular, and had black
stockings pulled down over their heads to disguise themselves. They wore dark jumpers and pants, and the one
who had spoken was pointing a handgun straight at Chrystine.
“What the…”
“Sit down, kid,
and don’t say a word,” the man holding April said as he took his hand away, and
she ran into her mother’s arms.
“My friend said
sit down,” the first man growled.
“IT’s all
right, April,” Chrystine said quietly as she stroked her daughter’s head,
“let’s both sit down, and they can tell me what they want.”
The man nodded
as he said “Good – we just need you both o do what we say, and when we say
it. Do that, and you both just have to
spend some time – unable to move or talk.”
“What does he
mean, Mummy,” April whispered. Chrystine
looked at him, before she said “you’re going to have to b every brave
April. Do you – men – mind if I cook
some food for my daughter?”
“OF course
not,” the man with the gun said as he sat at the table opposite April, smiling
at her. “No attempts to raise the alarm
though. Go and make sure the telephone is
disconnected.”
“Got it,” his
partner said as he walked out of the kitchen, Chrystine looking at him before
she turned the over on.
“Fish fingers
and chips all right for now, April?”
Her daughter
slowly nodded, her eyes fixed on the masked man as he smiled back at her…
“Have you had
enough, April,” Chrystine said as her daughter put the glass down.
“Yes Mum – so
what’s going to happen now?”
“You do Ballet
kid?”
“I do,” April
said as she looked at the man, “why?”
“Then this
won’t be so bad,” he said as his partner brought a canvas bag n and placed it
on the kitchen table. “Stand up, and put
your hands behind your back.”
“Do as the man
says,” Chrystine said as she stood up and kissed her forehead, collecting her
plate and glass as she went to the dish washer.
April swallowed and then stood up, watching the man as he took a length
of white rope form the bag and stood behind her. She felt him wrap the rope round her arms and
then gently pull it tight, her elbows coming together before he used the rope
to secure them to each other.
As Chrystine
turned, she watched as the masked man collected a second length of rope, and
then stood behind April again, placing her hands together palm to palm before
he bound them together, taking the rope round and between her arms. April flexed her fingers as she whispered
“does it have to be so tight?”
“Better this
way, kid – if it was loose, then you may get rope burn or worse,” the man said
as he secured the ends, and then took a longer length of rope form the
bag. Doubling it over, he nodded to his
partner as he came in and took a length of rope while he looked at Chrystine.
“You as well,
Mum – hands behind your back, palm to palm.”
“Make sure we
are both the same – April will be happier that way,” she whispered as she
watched the man securing her daughter’s arms to her body, the two bands framing
her small chest as her bare arms were forced against her sides.
“Are you all
right, April,” Chrystine said as she watched the man take the rope under one
arm, up and around the back of her neck, and then under her other arm.
“It’s not so
bad, Mum,” April said as she looked at her mother, “I can cope with this. I think.”
“That’s the
spirit kid,” the masked man said as Chrystine felt the rope drawing her own
elbows together behind her back, and then her wrists. She then watched as he fetched a second
length, and she felt that band round her bare wrists as they were secured together.
She tried to feel the knot with her fingers – but there was no wat to do so,
even as she felt the gloved hands removing her rings, her watch, her earrings…
“All right,”
the masked man said as he walked back to the bag, “we’re going to go to your
bedroom, and you’re going to tell me where you keep your valuables – while your
daughter is made nice and comfortable by my friend.” He took out a long length of rope, doubling
it over as he walked back, and said “right after I do this.”
April watched,
her eyes widening as the intruder pulled the rope tightly round her mother’s
body, stretching the t-shirt she was wearing as the bands formed and pressed
her chest up and out. He then did the
same as he had to April – took the rope under one arm, pulled it up and round
the back of Chrystine’s neck and then took it down the other side.
“You’re right,
April,” Chrystine said as she tried to smile, “ it is tight, but if we do as
they say, I don’t think it will hurt.”
“Good,” the man
said as he secured the ends behind her, and then his partner picked up the
canvas bag, “shall we?”
Chrystine
nodded as she said “you go first, April,” the two of them leading the way into
the hallway. She noticed the phone had
been pulled out from the wall as April started to climb the stairs, wiggling
slightly as Chrystine saw the rope round her wrists and elbows.
As they walked
into her parent’s bedroom, April was taken by the masked man and made to is ton
the bed, Chrystine watching as he knelt down and started to secure her ankles
together with rope, wrapping it round and between her thin limbs.
As he took a
second length of rope and wrapped it round her legs below her knees, his
partner looked at Chrystine and said “where do we start?”
“The wardrobe –
look on the top shelf,” Chrystine said quietly before she heard April say
“whtthshfhr.” Turning round, she saw her
daughter was still sitting on the bed, her lips together and her cheeks puffed
out. The second intruder was peeling a
length of silver tape from a roll, before he tore it free, and then pressed it
firmly down over the young girl’s mouth.
“Lie down on
your side,” he said quietly, April nodding as she lay along the bed and he
placed a pillow under her head. She
watched mutely as the men then followed Chrystine’s indications of where to
look, her jewels and valuables going into the bag.
“Right then,”
the man eventually said, “sit on the bed and cross your ankles.”
Chrystine
nodded as she sat down and looked at April.
“See,” she said as she felt the rope round her ankles, “I’m going to be
just like you.”
“Hkhhmhm,”
April said as she looked on, Chrystine turning and watching as her legs were
secured together, the white band over her pants. The man took the rope between her legs to
make it tighter, and then tied the ends off behind her knees before he stood
up.
“Do it,” his
partner said as he went to a drawer , taking something out and then returning
with a folded wad of silk.
“Is that what
is in my daughter’s mouth?”
“Yeah – don’t
worry, we used clean ones,” he said, Chrystine looking at April before she
nodded and opened her mouth wide. She
tasted the clean silk on her tongue as he pushed the wad in, and then closed her
lips over that as he tore a long strip of tape from the silver roll.
She felt the
tug on her skin as it was pressed down over her mouth, and then lay down – as
she saw the second man pull April’s feet back and then secure her ankles to the
ropes at her chest.
“Mhmhmwhdhhdhths?”
“Thmhkshrwhsththr,”
Chrystine said as she felt her own ankles being pulled back, and then the added
tension on her back as they were secured into place. She looked at April, and said “huhfhrhd?”
“hlthhll…”
“Mhtthhh –
lthsbhbhrfthfghr,” Chrystine said as she looked at the two men gathering the
last of he jewels into the bag. She then
shuffled over and pressed her taped lips on April’s forehead, her daughter
saying “fhnkuhmhm” as she looked into Chrystine’s eyes.
“Don’t move,”
the man said as he and his partner left, Chrystine looking at her daughter as
they listened to the foot steps, and then the door opening and closing.
“Whnnhsdhdhm?”
Chrystine
looked over at the clock, and said “nhtffhrhnhfrthhrs.”
“Whddhwhdh?” April twisted round as she tried to move, the
ropes holding firm before she said “hchnnghtfhrh.”
“Mnhffhrr,” Chrystine
said, “hnddhnhhdthsthhp.”
“Whh?”
“Hdhnthwhntuhhthfbhrfhfuhchnhtthoonuhrmhf.”
April looked at
her, and then nodded as Chrystine kissed her forehead again with her gagged
mouth. She then looked at April, before
she started to slowly rub her mouth on the pillow.
“Whhthrudhnnhmhm?”
“Lthsshhh…”
“Oh god, that’s
better,” Chrystine eventually said as she pushed the soaking wet cloth out of her
mouth with her tongue, the tape on the cushion as April watched.
“Whlldhdnnhmhm!”
“I know,” she
whispered as they both heard the door open and close.
“Anyone home?”
“Get up here,”
she called to her husband, “We’ve been robbed and left tied up and gagged!”
“Hlhhddhddhe,”
April said as her father came in, looking at them both before he came over and
peeled the tape from her mouth, then pulled out the wet cloth. “Oh god – let get some scissors,” he said as
he left the room, April looking at her mother as she said “we were brave, right
Mum?”
“Yes you were,”
Chrystine said with a smile, “yes you were…”
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