Short Shorts

That summer of 1971 was a magical one, one in which I first found the freedom to express who I truly was, albeit in a way that caused a little difficulty for the four students in the house next to mine.

I had just finished my training, and was eager to show the world what I had to offer, as well as please my instructors, so I laid my plans carefully. I knew they were the daughters of very wealthy men and women, and those rich parents would pay handsomely for them to be safely returned. So I found a nice isolated cabin, invested in furnishing the place to a basic level, and got some supplies in. Then I waited.

They all had nice names that reflected the sunny California air – May, April, June and Summer. It was May that I decided would be first, over the course of one Friday night and Saturday morning.

She worked as a singer at a local night club, so the other girls knew she would be late back anyway, and sometimes she stayed away all night. Perfect for me, as I went to see her singing. She was beautiful and talented, that was for sure, as I saw her on the stage with the dance band.

She had long light brown hair, that fell in soft cascades over the red velour jacket that she wore over a pair of matching shorts, and the white boots she wore hugged her calves like a new born calf clings to its mother. I freely admit I was entranced by her, especially as she came over and sat at my table.

“Hey Eddie,” she said as she looked at me, “Enjoying the show?”

“Very much so,” I said, “Perhaps I can come backstage after the place closes – escort you home? It’s a dangerous place out there.”

She smiled and said “I’d like that,” and then went back to work. I listened for a little while longer, then slipped out – I had a surprise to prepare.

IT was just after midnight when May finally came back to her dressing room, closing the door behind her and sitting at her table, with her head in her hands. She never heard me come out from my hiding place, never knew I was there until I clamped the sweet smelling cloth over her nose and mouth, and held her.

I had put a black ski mask on, so she did not see it was me, her eyes wide with panic as she tried to claw m hand away, but I held strong, as eventually she closed her eyes and slumped back into the chair. As I removed the chloroform soaked cloth, she let her head fall to one side. It had been so much easier than I had imagined it – and it gave me confidence for the next stage.

I crossed her wrists in front of her and tied them together with parachute cord, then did the same to her ankles, before I took a red bandana from my pocket and used it as a cleave gag, her red lisp closing over the cloth. It was not the best binding, but it would suffice until I got her to the cabin. Looking out to make sure the coast was clear, I carried May to the car, deposited her in the trunk, and then closed it before driving off.

It was about two when I got to my nice, isolated cabin, and lifted May from the trunk, carrying her into the cabin and one of the two rooms I had prepared. Laying her on the bed, I untied her wrists and then re-tied them to the headboard, her arms stretched out, before doing the same to her ankles.

Untying the scarf, I eased than gently into her mouth, and then covered her lips with a aide strip of brown sticking plaster. A simple sleep mask taped to her head, and she was ready for when she woke up. I sat in an rocking chair nearby, and watched her as I slowly drifted off to sleep...

Her muffled calls woke me up, and as I looked at the clock I saw it was eight. “Calm down,” I said in a false voice as I walked to her, “or you will do something really bad. You are safe, so long as you stay still.

She stopped struggling and then nodded. “Good,” I said quietly, “Now, I am afraid you must sleep a while longer.”

“Ndnntttt,” she moaned as I pressed the soaked rag over her mouth and nose again, and then left – I had to find April.

April was the stunning ash blonde of the quartet – and when I got home, she was just setting off on her bike for her job. She had on a white blouse with puffed sleeves gathered at her cuffs, buttoned up the front with a floral band, a pair of white shorts with brown stripes and a brown belt, and knee length tan leather boots.

“Morning Eddie,” she called out as I saw her, “Have you seen May this morning?”

“No I’m afraid not,” I lied, “but if I see her, I’ll tell her you are looking for her.”

“Thanks,” she called out as she rode off. She had no idea what was in store for her – but I had one other job to do first.

It was an hour later that I watched from the driver’s seat of a – borrowed – van, until I saw April riding towards me. As she passed, her bike ran over the glass shards I had scattered on the floor, and she actually cursed as her tyres were punctured.

“Now who left that glass there,” I heard her sat after I had got out and walked behind her, my sunglasses covering my eyes as part of my delivery man disguise – well, a brown jacket and shorts.

“Something wrong miss,” I said as I came up behind her. She looked at me and said “Yeah – some idiot left glass on the road. Can you give me a hand?”

“Of course,” I said as I pressed the barrel of a pistol I had in my hand against her back. “If you come to the back of the van, I have something there to help repair things.”

“OH Christ,” April said, but she did what I asked her to do, walking with me to the back of the van and waiting as I opened it up. Picking up a roll of black tape, I said to April “Face down in the back of the van, hands behind your back.”

She whimpered – she actually whimpered as I came in after her, and taped her wrist tightly together, before taping her ankles and legs over the top of those lovely brown leather boots. Turning her over, I then smoothed a length of tape over her mouth, and another over her eyes, before putting the bike in the back of the van, closing the doors, and driving to the cabin.

May was awake when I carried April in, and dropped her on the bed. “Hsthrr,” she called out, as April turned her head and said “Mmm? Hgd.”

“You two can keep each other company,” I said as I dropped April onto the bed, and then attached her taped ankles to the foot of the bed with a length of rope. “I’ll be back later.”

You see, I had a lunch date with Summer...

I stood up from the diner table as Summer walked in, her light blonde hair falling over the shoulders of her brown floral print blouse. She had a grey jacket in her hand, and was wearing a smart pair of matching shorts with knee length grey suede boots that had a block heel. She smiled as she came over and accepted my hug, before sitting down and ordering a drink.

“So what have I done to deserve this,” she said as she smiled at me, crossing her legs and getting comfortable.

“Nothing really – I just wanted to buy you lunch and hopefully get to know you better,” I replied as I took a sip of my drink. “And it is a bit difficult to do it with the other three around.”

“Yeah, I can believe that,” she said as she smiled at me – such a beautiful smile. “They do tend to get in the way sometimes. Which is a pity – I kind of like you as well.”

Now I was beginning to feel a little unhappy at what I had planned to do, but a plan was a plan, so we ordered lunch and ate, and talked, and got to know each other a whole lot better, before she looked at her watch and said “My god – is that the time? I’m sorry, Eddie, but I need to get going – I have dry cleaning to pick up, and I’m meeting June to sort out some house things.”

“Hey no problem,” I said as she stood up and pulled her jacket on, “Perhaps I can see you later?”

“I’d like that,” she said as she headed for the door. I allowed her a couple of minutes head start, and then headed off myself – I had to be at her house before she was.

I could hear Summer coming in from my hiding place in the kitchen, and I hoped she got a nice surprise as she came into the front room.

“June are you – oh my god!!”

“GTTTFHR” June cried out from her nice, comfortable seat in the wicker rocking chair. Her wrist were tied tightly down to the arms, the white rope visible over her black and grey sweater, while a white band of rope was over her wide brown leather belt, which was wrapped round the top of her brown corduroy shorts. Her legs were in a pair of knee length black leather laced boots, the ankles of which were tied to the front legs of the chair, and her mouth was covered in brown sticking plaster.

She had been like that all day – I had surprised and secured her before I went to collect April. Of the four, June had always been – well the nastiest to me, and I felt she deserved a little time out before we got to the cabin.

“June? Who did this to you,” Summer said as she came in, kneeling by her housemate and trying to untie the ropes. She did not see me coming up behind her, in my ski mask and costume – but June did, and she tried to warn her. It was no good, however, as she watched me clamp the chloroform soaked cloth over Summer’s nose and mouth.

She was taken by surprise, and must have inhaled the fumes, as she only took a few minutes to fall asleep and fall to the floor. “Thanks for your help,” I said as I walked over to June, and tied a folded black scarf over her eyes, and then put a smog mask over Summer’s mouth, keeping the chloroform rag in place as I carried her out to my waiting car.

Walking back into the house, I untied June’s wrists from the chair, and retied them in front of her, before releasing he rand making her walk in front of me to the car. I sat her in the passenger seat, and said “Don’t move” as I tied her wrists to the door handle, and her ankles side by side, and then closed my own door, removed the ski mask and drove to the cabin.

“There now – four pretty maids in a row.”

I pulled tight the rope around Summer’s ankle and then stood up, looking at the four of them as they sat in a row of chairs. They all had their arms tightly bound behind the back of the chair with rope, which was then tied down to the back of the folding seats, while their ankles were tied to the front legs. They all still had their blindfolds on – I added one to Summer when we arrived – and the gags.

I set up the camera and took the transom photos of each of them, then picked up the Dictaphone and held it to the side of April’s head.

“You first – when I remove the gag, say hello to Mummy and Daddy and tell them to do whatever I say, or you get hurt.”

I pulled the tape gag off and listened as she said “Mummy, Daddy – someone is holding me hostage. Please, please do whatever he tells you, I’m frightened of what he might do to mmmmmmmmm.”

The last bit was cut off by my hand gag, as I stopped the tape, and then pressed a fresh piece of sticking plaster over her mouth. Taking the small cassette out, I labelled it, put a new one in and said the same thing to May.

By the time I had finished, I had four ransom photos, four cassettes, and four notes made with letters cut from old magazines. I made three packages, and then looked at the row of bound and gagged beauties. “Now behave yourselves,” I said, “while I pass on these short messages. I’ll be right back.”

For the next two days I kept them company, feeding them, letting them talk to each other, and of course making sure they got some sleep – even if they were tightly hogtied, their wrists crossed, rope around their arms and chest and their legs, and tape gagged. But at least they got some sleep.

I had allowed all the families forty eight hours, and they all agreed to pay at the designated times and points. So when my hire period was up, I left the cabin in the van, the four beauties in the back. They were sat, two to each side, their wrists tied together and then above their heads to the van side with rope, their ankles and legs tightly tied side by side. Of course, they had brown plaster over their mouths, and of course they had sleep masks taped into place over their eyes.

June was first – her parents had left the money near the Golden Gate bridge, so I left June at the observation area in the early hours, after I collected the money.

As for Summer, I let her out outside her parent’s house before I went to collect her ransom – in fact, while they were delivering it. April was left at the zoo – with her bike beside her.

Which left May. I pulled up outside my house, carried her in and closed the door behind me, and then gently peeled away the tape from her mouth.

“Did it work,” she said as I removed her blindfold.

“Of course it did, lover,” I said before I reached down and kissed her, “No problem at all. The money is in the special account.”

I untied her arms and legs, embracing her as she did me. “Good,” she said quietly, “I enjoyed the time – even if I have to keep it a secret from them.”

“Only for a couple more weeks,” I said with a smile, “and then you move to Vegas, right?”

“Yeah I do,” she said with a smile, “with you, my lover...”

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