Seventies
Bound: Teach-In
June 1978
Harpenden-on-Thames
“I know the examinations
are over – but those of you who are joining the sixth form need to start
classes now.”
Clare Follder
looked out over the class of boys and girls, and then opened the book on her
desk. The twenty-five year old was
wearing a round necked brown jumper over a white blouse, her permed red-brown
hair held in place by hairspray. The
long grey herringbone skirt she was wearing fell over her knees, covering the
tops of her burgundy leather boots.
“So, for our
first set text, we will use The Woman in White.
Who would like to read the opening chapter?”
As one of the
students started to read, Annie Blake looked in through the glass window in the
door. Clare’s housemate, and a maths
teacher, she was wearing a dark roll neck sweater with a pendant round her neck,
and a knee length teal skirt paired with knee length black leather boots. She smiled as she watched Clare, her brown
hair cut into a bob, and then walked down to her own classroom.
Sitting down,
she looked at her plan for the next lesson, and wondered how she was going to
spend her evening – Clare had been invited to speak at the local WI that night…
“I’ll come back
and pick you up at nine,” Annie said as she stopped outside the town hall, Clare
nodding as she got out of the mini and walked to the doors of the hall as Annie
drove off. Walking into the corridor,
she looked at the board, and thin, she then walked down the corridor to the
room designated for the meeting.
Walking in, she
looked round the room and then saw the older woman standing by the front.
“Miss Follder? Diana Corden – I’m the chairperson of the WI,”
she said as she shook Clare’s hand. She
was wearing a blue maxi-dress with a matching scarf in her greying brown hair.”
“It’s a
pleasure Mrs Corden – so when do the ladies get here?”
“Oh soon –
would you like some coffee while we wait?”
“Yes, she
was the first – and she was meant to be the only one that night, but – well,
something happened?”
“What
happened?”
“A flat tyre…”
June 1978
“Goddamit,” Annie
said as she turned the engine off, got out of the car and looked at the flat
tyre. Shaking her head, she gathered her
coat around herself and started to walk back towards the town hall.
“I hope they
have a phone that works,” she mumbled to herself as she walked through the
large outer doors, and looked at the reception desk – only it was
unmanned. Shaking her head, she looked
for a telephone, but there wasn’t one available.
Annie then
looked at the board, and saw the WI meeting.
“Well, if I have to stick around,” she said to herself as she made her
way along the corridor. Finding the
room, she was surprised to hear no real noise coming from inside, so she slowly
opened the door and went in.
“Hello? Anyone here?”
She could here
some muffled calling, and as she walked across the room she saw a door at the
other side that was ajar. She walked over,
the heels of her boots clicking on the wooden floor, and slowly opened it wide.
The first thing
she saw was Diana Corden sitting on her floor, her eyes wide open as she shook
her head, the brown sticking plaster pressed firmly down over her mouth. Her arms were behind her back, but Annie
could see the rope round her ankles.
She then
glanced to the side and saw Clare sitting
on the floor, the brown rope holding her booted ankles together, her head to
one side with the eyes closed and brown sticking plaster over her mouth as
well. Her arms were also behind her back,
but she could also see bands of rope around her arms and upper body, framing
her chest.
“Oh God,” Annie
said as she backed out of the cupboard – and then felt the arm grab her from
behind as a damp cloth was pressed down over her nose and mouth.
September
1979
“I watched
her as her eyes closed, and she slumped to the floor, before she was secured
and gagged in the same way as Clare – but also with ropes round their knees.”
“I liked
them as teachers – what happened to them?”
“We’ll get
to that in a moment, my dear – at any rate, come the start of the new year,
they were replaced – and then there was the home economics teacher…”
June 1978
Elsewhere
As Annie slowly
opened her eyes, she saw Clare lying on some sort of cot bed across from her,
her eyes wide as she struggled in the bands of rope.
“Chlrr?”
“Hnnheee –
whrrhrwh?”
She felt the
plaster tugging on her mouth, as she tried to move – but the only thing that happened
was an increase in the squeaking, as she realised her legs were rubbing
together.
“Ah good – you are
awake. Welcome – try not to struggle,
and I will explain what is happening…”
September
1978
Harpenden-on-Thames
“So let me have
a look at your results.”
Samantha Carr
walked from the front of the room, the heels of her straight black leather
boots licking on the floor. She was a
woman in her early forties, wearing a sleeveless print cardigan over a powder
blue jumper, and a knee length check skirt.
A string of pearls hung loosely round her neck.
She stopped in
front of one of the girls and took a spoon, removing a small sample of her soup
and tasting it. “Not bad,” she
eventually said as she put the spoon in the sink, “but needs more seasoning.
“Let me try
this… No, you have not cooked the leeks
for long enough before adding the stock…”
She made her
way around the room, massing comment before she said “well, not too bad, but
room for improvement. For your homework,
I want you to work through a recipe and identify what you need to do to…”
The bell
ringing made her smile as she said “Enjoy the weekend” before they girls made
their way out, and she sat down. She had
some homework to mark, and then she had a presentation to the local WI before
she made her way back to her flat, to be on her own again…
“And that,
ladies, is how you prepare a meal to remember for your husbands?”
The gathered
women clapped as Diana Corden came to the front and said “thank you, Samantha –
please, have some refreshment before you leave.” The chairwoman was wearing a black jersey
dress with pearls, as Samantha said “thank you for the invite – but you will
have to forgive me if I leave early.”
“Of course –
may I offer you a lift?”
“thank you…”
As she pulled
up outside the block of flats, Samantha said “thank you again” as she got out
and Diana drove off. The teacher made
her way to the main door and then walked up one flight of stairs, before
letting herself in and closing the door behind her.
The cloth over
her nose and mouth took her by surprise, as she reached and tried to pull the
arm away and scream at the same time.
All the did was ensure she inhaled the fumes more quickly, as her vision
started to blur, and her eyes closed…
The intruder
slowly lowered Samantha to the floor, on her stomach, and then crossed her wrists
behind her back before securing them tightly together with rope. They then crossed and bound her ankles
tightly together, with another length of rope holding her legs together below
her knees, before they rolled her over and sat her up.
Her cardigan
was forced to her sides by the bands of rope that framed her chest, forcing her
arms into her sides as she groaned softly, and then a knotted scarf was pushed
into her mouth, the band tied tightly round her neck before the knot was placed
at the back of her neck.
The intruder
slowly stood up and opened the front door, looking round before Samantha was
hoisted over her shoulder and carried out….
September
1979
“How do you know
what happened to Mrs Carr?”
“How do you
think?”
She stared
at the older woman, and then tried to move.
“No – you are
going to stay right there,” Donna said as she stood up, “after all, one other
person is on your mind, is she not?”
“Miss Burnett… No…”
February
1979
Harpenden-on-Thames
“All right,
pens down – pass your papers to the front…”
Zoe Burnett
smiled as the geography class passed their test papers forward. The fifty year old woman was wearing a white
jumper over a wide necked blue one, the long thin paisley scarf tied loosely
and hanging down the front of her outfit.
Her dark culottes came down to the tops of her black patent leather
riding boots, faux laces on the front.
“Thank you
everyone,” she said with a smile as her red-brown hair moved in the slight
breeze. “You may go for lunch now.”
As the students
made their way out, a white envelope was placed down on the desk, but it was
only after the class had left that Zoe picked up the envelope and opened it.
“The Woman’s Institute? Why on earth would I want to join a group like
that,” Zoe said as she shook her head, and tore the letter up before she put
the papers in the waste basket.
“And now on BBC
1, a new series of The Dick Emery show…”
As Zoe sipped
her tea, the knock on the front door took her by surprise, so she stood up and walked
to the front door. The white haired
woman standing there was a stranger to her, so she said “can I help you?”
“Zoe
Burnett? My name is Donna Corden, and I’m
the chairwoman of the local WI. I wonder
if we could have a quick word?”
“The WI? I’m not interested in joining, if that is why
you have called. I’ve heard some strange
things about your group?”
“Strange things,”
Donna said with a smile, “such as?”
“Some people
disappearing after they visit your meetings – some of my fellow teachers in
fact, so no, I’m not interested.”
“Well,” Donna
said with a smile as she stood there, wearing a long black leather coat as she
put a gloved hand into her pocket, “I do want to say one thing that may
interest you?”
“Oh – and what
is that?”
Donna smiled as
she drew a gun from her coat pocket, and said “step back inside please Zoe – if
you won’t come to the meeting, then the meeting will come to you.”
“What the…”
“Please – no screaming
or arguing,” Donna said with a smile as she walked in, “stand against the wall,
and put your hands behind your back.”
Zoe did as she
was ordered, wondering what was going on as Donna put the gun down, and removed
from her other coat pocket a roll of black tape. Smiling, she crossed the other woman’s wrists
behind her back and taped them tightly together, before removing the scarf from
round her neck and pulling it between her lips.
“Whtghgnhnhn,”
Zoe mumbled as the material pulled the corners of her mouth back, before Donna
wrapped the black tape tightly round her head, covering the cleave gag as well
as her lips and chin.
“We’re going
for an adventure,” Donna said with a smile as she looked outside, then replaced
the tape and gun in her pocket before turning the lights off, and taking Zoe
with her…
September
1979
“She was the
last lady to join us – before you Miss Fell.”
Donna stood
in the front room of her house, wearing a Long chocolate brow cardign with a
leaf trim over a matching skirt, and straight chocolate brown leather
boots. She smiled, her grey haircut into
a bob as she looked at the young woman tightly bound on the seat in front of
her.
The blonde
was wearing a blue blouse over a dark blue roll neck sweater, tight blue jeans
and knee length black leather boots, the ropes holding her around her ankles, legs
and arms, while her wrists were secured together behind her back.
“But why,
Donna,” she said as she struggled.
“The others? They are currently part of the teaching staff
for a certain sheikh,” Donna said as she sipped her tea, “But you are a
different matter, Sheila Fell. You’re not
a teacher – you’re a detective. And as
such, Objects of Beauty is where you will go.
Now, pucker those lips for me.”
Sheila could
only stare at her as she smoothed the white tape down over her mouth, and then picked
up the telephone.
“Hello? I need to report a Slip of the Tongue…”
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