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Deviation Actions
Literature Text
“Fancy a drink Rach?” I asked as I swung open the door to my fridge to see what we had in stock. “Orange juice or traditional lemonade?”
“Juice if that’s OK?” Rachel replied as she took a seat on my sofa, after resting her tennis racket against mine from where I’d propped it against the wall. She pulled away her hair bobble to release her long dark hair, which tumbled onto her white polo top which she’d combined with a short white sports skirt, white socks and matching trainers. “I need something refreshing to bask in my epic victory!” she yelled at me from my living room into my kitchen.
“Yeah yeah, would little miss smug like ice in her juice?” I asked as I poured us both a drink. I had already loosened my brown locks from my ponytail so it fell past my ears, my outfit consisting of a green sleeveless sports top with black gym shorts, black pop socks and white trainers.
As I dumped a couple of ice cubes into our drinks I reflected upon our recent tennis game. It had been a recent idea of ours. After the events at the Herringford Glen Leisure Complex, Rachel and I had realised that we weren’t spending as much time together as we used to. To rectify this, and to keep us in top physical condition for our snooping antics, we’d decided to regularly play regular tennis games with each other. It was quite an intriguing matchup. Rachel is a more skilful player then me, but I compensate for that with my superior endurance and fitness. Still, she’d just got the better of me this time, and as I brought her drink out to her she wasn’t going to let me forget it.
“Regret trying to lob me in that second set tiebreak?” Rachel smiled at me.
“Worked when I tried it in the first set,” I retorted. We both took an eager gulp of refreshment, before I said, “I really enjoyed our game. Glad we decided to give the refurbished tennis centre a go!”
“Me too. Shame it’s taken us so long to get around to it really.” We both paused for a second before she added, “I’m sorry I haven’t been that good a friend recently.”
“You have nothing to apologise for,” I told her. “You’re in a relationship now Rach, our free moments together were always going to dwindle.”
“Yeah but it’s different when my bloke happens to be your twin brother,” Rachel sighed, running her hand through her long raven locks. “It’s just after all we’ve been through together, I’d hate for us to drift, you know.”
“Yeah like there’s ever a chance of that happening,” I smiled. “Why don’t we make up for lost time tonight and play some games or watch a movie? My dad’s on duty, mum’s meeting her agent, Chris is at band practice, I’m well ahead with my coursework and Felicity says there’s nothing worth investigating at the moment. Why don’t we have a girl’s night in and enjoy ourselves?”
Rachel smiled back at me and replied, “As long as you have a bottle of wine chilling then that sounds like a plan to me!”
So Rachel and I began discussing what our plans for the night were to be, weighing up whether to watch a cheesy action flick or play a couple of round of Mario Kart on our Wii. Little did either of us realise that the evening ahead would end up progressing in a way neither of us could have predicted.
Oblivious to the dark turn our evening was about to take, I fired up the Wii and we played a couple of rounds of Mario Kart. I was much more adapt at video game cartoon racing then I was at tennis, and Rachel had a hard time keeping up with me as I blasted to the head of the pack playing as Yoshi riding a motorbike. “Yes, five victories to two!” I cried triumphantly as I crossed the line in first place.
“Got to beat me at something,” Rachel retorted playfully. “Come on girl, where you keeping the wine then?”
“Check the fridge, think there’s some sauvignon in there!” I told her as I returned to the main menu to prepare for another round. Rachel got to her feet and bounded into my kitchen, a definite spring entering the dark haired girl’s step as she eagerly anticipated her large glass of wine. I remained on the sofa waiting for the game to load, until I heard my phone buzzing from where I had stashed it in the pocket of my gym shorts. I had been sent a message.
I thought nothing of it at the time, thinking it was probably either Harriet or Abigail. But it had instead been sent by a private number my phone could not identify. The message I had been sent read as follows:-
‘HEED MY WARNING SARA PHILIPS. YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER. CONTACT THEM AND YOUR FAMILY BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND BE PREPARED. THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU!”
Well naturally, I was pretty stunned at receiving such a dramatic text message. I had to reread it a couple of times to make sure I had actually viewed it correctly. I was still having trouble processing it when Rachel returned bringing me a large glass of something suitably alcoholic. But I was no longer in the mood for relaxing, and without hesitating I showed her the message. Rachel’s broad smile immediately contorted into a frown as she tried to decipher its meaning.
“That’s really weird,” Rachel exclaimed. “Not to mention a bit frightening. You reckon it’s just someone’s idea of a sick joke?”
I shook my head. “I dunno, we’ve met some powerful people Rach; People who know if we were in danger and would be able to warn us if someone was going to try something.”
“Try what?” Rachel pointed out. “What could they possibly be warning us about? Mr White? Emerald?”
“Whatever this is about I need to let Dad know,” I said, searching my phone for his number. “Why don’t you try to contact Felicity see if she has any ideas as to what’s this about?” Rachel nodded in agreement, and got up to retrieve her mobile from her gym bag, which she’d left in my kitchen. Once I was left alone I tried calling my dad, AKA Chief Inspector Harry Philips. But I couldn’t get hold of him. Realising he was probably out on duty, I left him a voicemail message telling him about the text anyway. I then tried to contact my mum to inform her of this, but I couldn’t get through to her either. I momentarily began to wonder where she was. She was supposed to get home from her meeting with her literary agent hours ago.
“Can’t get through to them Rach, you have any luck contacting Felicity?”
I got no reply.
The sudden silence engulfing my house unnerved me, and I got to my feet to find out what had happened to my friend. I called out her name again, but once again no reply. Now really confused, I entered the kitchen and saw Rachel standing by the fridge, her eyes wide with shock.
And she wasn’t the only one standing in my kitchen.
Somehow, for reasons completely beyond my comprehension, Rachel was standing by the door to my walk in pantry, looking open mouthed to the kitchen floor to where my girl detective rival Vicky lay bound and gagged.
“Fffffllllppsss? Wwwwwttt tttthhh hhhlll?” Vicky mumbled incoherently through the layers of silver duct tape slathered over her mouth. She had been bound with white cotton ropes pinning her hands behind her back, fixing her legs together at the ankles and knees, and enveloping her upper body pressing her arms against her sides. She was wearing a dark long sleeved top with matching miniskirt, tan tights and high heeled ankle boots, a dark headband in her bright blonde hair to keep it off her freckled face.
At first Rachel and I could only gawp at her in disbelief, neither of us sure what to make of this turn of events. Eventually I managed to utter, “Where in God’s name did she come from?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel retorted in bemusement. “I was just trying to phone Felicity when I heard someone banging on your pantry door from the inside. I opened it up and there she was, kicking the door with her heels.”
Vicky gave another angry stamp of said heels against my tiled kitchen floor as she waited very impatiently for release. “Nnnnnyyyyy ttttmmm nnnnwwwmmm fffflllppsss!” she grunted as her face flushed red behind her gag.
Rachel and I finally knelt down to release her, both of us wanting to find out the meaning behind this bizarre situation. Rachel went to untie Vicky’s hands while I peeled away her tapegag. But as I tugged at the loose corner of the silvery, sticky material I noticed that written onto it in bright red ink was a sequence of numbers which looked suspiciously like a phone number.
Deciding to ignore this detail for a moment I removed the tape from Vicky’s lips, though I didn’t outstretch my generosity as far as to yank out the sponge wad that had been crammed in her mouth. She spat it out herself, then took a couple of deep breaths before she snapped, “Take your bloody time why don’t you?”
“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing tied up in my kitchen?” I snapped back.
Vicky gave me an icy glare as Rachel freed her hands, before retorting sarcastically, “Just did it for shits and giggles Philips. How the hell should I know?”
“Well what did happen to you then?” Rachel asked. “And why didn’t you make a noise earlier?”
As Vicky pulled the ropes that had been enveloping her upper body up over her head she shrugged and replied, “I was just doing some coursework in our college library when someone chloroformed me from behind. When I woke up I was in there. And unlike you two, I’m not one for attracting attention to myself when I wake up bound and gagged locked in an enclosed place somewhere I don’t recognise. I wanted to make sure it was definitely you two before I made my presence known.”
I looked at Rachel and nodded at her to indicate that I believed her story. I doubt Vicky would have any reason to lie to me. But unfortunately her story just raised more questions. “You have any idea why someone would do this to you, and then take you from college to my house?” I asked.
“Don’t have a clue, and I’m guessing you don’t either?” Vicky retorted. “Figures,” she added indignantly under her breath as I shook my head at her.
It was then I returned my attention to the phone number written on the silver strips of duct tape that had previously been over Vicky’s lips. Quickly I entered the number into my mobile, and before Rachel or Vicky could stop me I pressed call and put it onto loudspeaker. We didn’t have to wait long before someone answered me.
“So, you found your feisty little friend then?” said a mysterious voice down the phone, using an electronic voice distorter to disguise their voice.
Before I could say anything Vicky roared at my phone, “You’ve got some nerve, kidnapping me in broad daylight. If I ever find you then I’m going to shove that chloroform rag right up your…”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” the electronic sounding voice sneered.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked. “What’s all this about?”
“This is about revenge my dear,” the voice taunted. “Sweet, delicious revenge. You girls managed to spoil months of planning and set back our operations by months, and now you are going to pay for it. And that applies to you and all your little band of mates.”
“Like hell that’s going to happen!” I insisted. “I swear that if you do anything to hurt my friends…”
“Oh dear me, look at the time girls,” the voice interrupted. “It seems to be well past your bedtime.”
Rachel, Vicky and I fell silent, not sure what he meant by that. But then we all heard an ominous beeping noise coming from the pantry in which Vicky had been stashed. I felt my heart freeze over as I saw placed inside it a metal, cylindrical device. The beeps continued for a couple seconds more, before a hatch opened in the device, through which a stifling, white coloured cloud of smoke was ejected at an incredible speed.
Rachel, Vicky and I were suddenly engulfed by the smoke, which swirled around our feet and billowed up round our bodies. Suddenly I was coughing as a sickly sweet smell invaded my nostrils. I tried to fight it but I couldn’t and I could hear the other two girls spluttering at my side. Suddenly in addition to these coughs I began to feel lightheaded and woozy, and I struggled to stay on my feet. Only then did I realise that my kitchen was being filled with knock out gas.
I tried everything to stop the smoke getting into my mouth and nose, covering my face with my arm and running to the window to get some fresh air. But soon I could barely walk, feeling like weights were attached to my ankles. Ultimately I fell to my knees, and then rolled over onto my side, as behind me both Vicky and Rachel succumbed to the same fate. Finally, after a few final coughs my eyelids fluttered to a close, not knowing what I would find when I woke up.
For how long I was out I don’t know, but it must have been a while. I realised this when I eventually awoke and saw the large quantities of rope that had been used to bind me. My hands were tied behind my back, and my legs bound at the ankles and knees. Adding to this however was an extremely long length or cord which had been wrapped around my waist and arms, which circled around a similarly bound Rachel and Vicky pinning us together, sitting us back to back in a kind of Y shape.
Upon waking I emitted a frustrated groan at once again finding myself as a bound prisoner, at which point I realised that I had again been gagged. Strips of tape had been slathered over my lips, keeping what tasted like a sponge wad sealed in my mouth. Immediately I began testing my restraints, tugging against the ropes wound about my diaphragm and alternating my shoulders up and down with my brown hair brushing my exposed shoulders, but escape once again eluded me.
What my struggles did achieve however was to wake Rachel and Vicky from their induced slumber. Rachel was tied to my left, Vicky to my right, and upon waking they too began struggling fervently against their bonds and making muted exclamations through their gags. Boy did they wriggle, especially Vicky who seemed furious at being tied up twice in the space of a few hours. But all our efforts brought us was chafed legs and arms, and uncomfortable tugs and jolts against our waists.
So intent I had been with escaping it took me a while to realise we had been taken out of my kitchen into my living room. The curtains had been drawn and lights turned on, but my Wii had not been switched off. In fact, someone was playing Mario Kart right now, guiding Donkey Kong around a sharp corner on Rainbow Road. I then looked to my sofa and my eyes widened in shock when I saw who was playing.
“Fun game this,” The Scarlet Rose beamed at me when she saw me looking at her. “Not a patch on the original though.”
“YYYYMMMMM!” Vicky and I chorused as we both recognised the women who had been responsible for having us tied up and imprisoned numerous times in the past. The Scarlet Rose was a truly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties with frizzy, sandy blonde hair. Today she was dressed in a black office dress with dark stockings and matching high heels, her beautifully red varnished nails clutching the Wii Wheel tightly as she concentrated on completing her final lap. Yet underneath the glamorous exterior was one of the country’s most infamous and prolific jewel thieves, one who relished in seducing rich, unsuspecting victims and then restraining them while she made off with their precious possessions. So it was no wonder Vicky and I assumed that she had repeated the process on us once again.
After guiding Donkey Kong to a respectable third place finish she put the controller down and stood up to examine us, flashing the three bound eighteen year olds a pearly white smile. “Lovely to see my favourite two teen sleuths again,” she smiled at Vicky and I. “Learnt to get on yet?”
“Gggggttt wwwmmmm!” Vicky snarled as I redoubled my efforts, really not being in the mood for being at this thief’s mercy yet again.
The Scarlet Rose then walked around us in a circle to examine my raven haired best friend. “You must be Sara’s partner in crime Rachel,” she said cheerily. “I don’t believe we have had the pleasure of a formal introduction yet. I hope you don’t begrudge all the time Sara and I have spent together during our last couple of meetings.”
“Ssssccrrr yyymmm!” Rachel growled through her gag, stamping her trainer clad feet against my carpet and glaring at the woman with her deep blue eyes.
The Scarlet Rose merely laughed at her defiance, and then said suggestively, “And, permit me to say, you are just gorgeous Rachel. A real stunner. No wonder Sara here is so fond of you.”
My eyes widened at the same time Rachel’s did, and we both looked over our shoulders at each other in confusion. Was she implying what we thought she was implying?
The Scarlet Rose saw our confused looks, at which she laughed even harder. “Oh you girl detectives are such a bunch of goody two shoes. It makes you so much fun to tease.”
God this woman was really trying my patience, but I realised an angry reaction was what she wanted. So I sat still and stared forward, waiting for her to reveal just what was going on here.
I didn’t have to wait long, as the Scarlet Rose returned to face me and said, “OK, I know what this looks like dears, but the truth is that I’m not exactly the one who did this to you. You see, the real reason I’m here is to make sure Sara received my text message.”
I blinked at her in astonishment. So she had been the one had texted me that warning. She could see I was surprised, so she didn’t hang about in explaining why. “The thing is Sara, I’ve been keeping a low profile since we last met, but I’ve kept my ears open. You remember Alfie and his little band, the ones I was working with? Well he was only one member of a larger criminal group, the Winston Gang. And a little while ago a little bird told me their members were planning revenge upon the girls responsible for ruining a plan which saw thousands of pounds of investment thrown away and six gang members arrested.”
I found myself catching Vicky’s eye at this point. So the gang of jewel thieves who a couple of months ago we had uncovered in an abandoned brickworks had come back for revenge. That explained why Vicky had been targeted first and why they’d come after me next. But what did this mean for my friends? Where they safe?
The Scarlet Rose began pacing around us as she finished her story. “I may be many things Sara, but I don’t delight in causing pain to teenage girls. So I came back to Carrington to tip you off and head off the gang. But they got here before me, and by the time I got to your house two gang members had knocked the three of you out and were tying you up. Luckily I was on hand to return the favour, so now they’re the ones occupying your pantry.”
“Wwwwyyyy rrr www sssstttlll tttdd ppp tthhnn?” Vicky growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Oh, I kept you tied up because I knew if you woke up unbound you’d be out the door snooping your pretty little faces off as usual,” the Scarlet Rose explained. “But with members of the Winston Gang still out there I decided to keep you tucked up in here out of danger. Hope you don’t mind?”
“LLLLLTTT SSSS GGGGMMMMM!” Vicky, Rachel and I chorused furiously.
“Thought not!” the Scarlet Rose smiled. “Just sit down and have a good wriggle while I make sure the rest of the Winston Gng can’t bring any harm to you and your friends. I’m sure someone will find you soon.”
Indeed someone did find us soon, and all four of us fell still at the sound of someone approaching the front door.
Rachel, Vicky and I fell still at the sound of my front door being forced open, the Scarlet Rose also turning her head with a swish of her frizzy blonde hair as the door to my living room was then flung open. In walked a dark suited man with short cut grey hair and a matching beard. He was flanked on either side by two of his muscled goons, also dressed in sharp expensive suits. They were members of the Winston Gang, and the bearded man in the centre was their leader, Paul Winston.
The criminal leader examined the scene in front of him, noting the three bound and gagged girls arranged in a circle, and the infamous jewel thief standing over them, before remarking in a devious, icy voice with a strong Glaswegian accent, “And a very good evening to you to Miss Rose.”
“Paul Winston,” The Scarlet Rose replied curtly. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”
Paul Winston nodded in my direction and replied “That little gang of girls at your feet there. Thanks for corralling them up for me. I was beginning to fear they’d got away when I lost contact with my subordinates. Now perhaps you’d care to step out the way.”
“Not a chance,” The Scarlet Rose snarled in reply.
Vicky, Rachel and I sat in stunned silence, not quite believing what we were witnessing. Was the Scarlet Rose actually protecting us?
But instead of looking angry, Paul Winston merely smiled deviously, which in some ways was even worse. “Admirable sentiment,” he sneered, “But it won’t do my guests of honour much good.”
“What’s that mean?” the jewel thief sneered.
Paul Winston didn’t reply directly, instead he turned his head to yell out the door, “Bring them in lads!”
From the moment I heard a very distinguished, though muffled squeak I realised with a sinking feeling who Paul Winston’s guests were. Sure enough he and his goons parted to let two more suit wearing men in, both of whom had in their grasp a pair of very familiar girls.
Abigail and Harriet wriggled against the men gripping them by the shoulders, unable to put up much resistance with their hands bound behind them and layers of black duct tape plastered over their lips. The two remaining members of the CGDA had evidently been snatched separately. The blonde haired Abigail dressed casually in a black top, red tartan miniskirt, dark tights and bright red flats, having evidently been on her way to meet her boyfriend James. Red headed Harriet was wearing the green and white striped sports shirt of her local women’s football team, complete with white shorts and long green football socks (her boots had were nowhere to be seen) Evidently she had been nabbed shortly after her match had finished.
Paul Winston moved behind Abigail and to her horror he placed his hand on her shoulder. Over her panicked squeaks (and our cries of muted protest), he said, “If you don’t stop being such a goddamn nuisance then this will be the girl who suffers first. You understand?”
It seemed The Scarlet Rose did. Realising she was completely outnumbered and with no hope of being able to rescue us all, she gave a resigned tut and put her hands above her head. Winston’s goons wasted no time at all, darting forward and roughly grabbing her, pinning her hands behind her back. “Ow, watch the suit gentlemen. You want me to send you the dry cleaning bill when you’re in a prison cell?” she snapped defiantly.
“Still so defiant,” Paul Winston sneered. “Use some liquid persuasion on her lads; that should calm her down!”
“I’ll give you calmed down you psychotic, son of a bbbccchhhhh nnnnmmm!” The Scarlet Rose’s furious tirade was curtailed by one of the gang members clamping a rag, presumably doused in chloroform, over her lower face. Boy did she struggle, lashing out with her feet so her high heels flew off her feet and tugging to free her hands and arms with everything she had, but ultimately she wasn’t strong enough, and as her eyes rolled into her sockets I realised the chloroform had defeated the infamous Scarlet Rose.
As her head dropped in the direction of the floor Paul Winston gave an indignant scoff. “Make damn sure none of these ladies are going anywhere else tonight,” he instructed his goons.
The men were only too eager to oblige. Harriet and Abigail were bustled over to my sofa and forced to take a seat, before the men produced more white coloured rope and used them to bind their ankles and knees together. As a finishing touch their tied Harriet and Abigail’s conjoined ankles together with a short length of rope, which would effectively stop them from hopping about the room in search of escape. Mine and Harriet’s eyes met as the cord about her exposed knees were cinched, at which she asked me through her tapegag, “Yymmm kkkkk sssrrr?” I nodded at her in reply, trying to stay calm despite the ever increasing direness of our situation.
The unconscious Scarlet Rose was laid out on the floor at Vicky’s feet, where more rope was efficiently used to lash her hands behind her, her stocking clad ankles together, and wound about her knees and upper body. Finally one last length was used to join her feet to her hands in a taught hogtie. To make sure she couldn’t make up a fuss, a sponge was stuffed into her mouth before covered with layers of black duct tape.
As the men worked I continued to struggle myself, though I had to make sure that none of our captors noticed. Rachel joined me, and our hands brushing against each other we searched for knots to pick with our flailing fingers. Finally I found the knot used to bind Rachel’s hands together, and it seemed to be a little on the loose side. I realised if Rach and I worked together we could probably get free of our own accord sooner or later. But that would depend on whether Paul Winston and his gang realised what we were up to, or indeed what their ultimate plan for us was.
It seemed like Winston wasn’t going to wait long to tell us. He paced around the room until he came to me, at which he gave me a very sinister, highly punch-able smile. “So, this is the famous Sara Philips,” he remarked at me. “Pretty lass aren’t you? But difficult to believe someone like you is capable of causing me so much trouble. Over two million pounds worth of trouble to be precise.”
“Mmmmm ssssmmm ssssrrryyy!” I mumbled sarcastically at him.
I think he got my meaning, because he let out a low chuckle as he crouched in front of me. “I was originally going to conduct this whole game thing, where I enacted my revenge by having you run around town trying to find your kidnapped friends before I ultimately had you captured anyway. Would have been great fun. Pity your friend over there had to ruin everything,” he explained to me, his eyes flickering over to the hogtied and sleeping Scarlet Rose.
He then shrugged, and playfully ruffled my brown hair before saying, “Well I guess this will have to do. And hey, at least I get to spring one surprise on you.”
Paul Winston had a surprise for me? I didn’t like the sound of that.
Winston gave me a knowing smile, before he got to his feet and looked at the sleeping and bound jewel thief lying at the side. “This evening hasn’t actually been about kidnapping you girls,” he explained. “That was just an…added bonus, shall we say. My real motivation has been to use you as bait, to draw this devious woman out of hiding.”
“Wwwwwwttt?” Vicky and I enquired mutedly through our gags in surprise.
As Winston inspected the Scarlet Rose he continued to explain, “This woman might have blown our jewel job to save your life, but what you didn’t know is that after she ensured your safety she got my men arrested and stole all the jewels for herself. You think that she genuinely cares for your safety Sara, but ultimately she just cares about herself. She didn’t come to Carrington to save you, she came here to cover her own arse.”
Paul Winston then returned to looking at me, and suddenly his expression changed to one of fury. “However my young detective, do not think that I have forgiven you for ruining my plans and leaving me millions of pounds out of pocket. The only reason you’re still alive is because I don’t agree with disposing of teenagers, no matter how meddlesome they might be. But if you should ever cross me again Sara Philips, you or any of your little chums here, then I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you. You’ve seen tonight what I’m capable of, so consider this your only warning!”
With that he clicked his fingers at his subordinates, and two of them rushed over to the sleeping Scarlet Rose and picked her up, still bound in her hogtie. “This beautiful lady is coming with me however,” he explained triumphantly. “Say goodbye to her lassies, I doubt you’ll be seeing her again after tonight.”
“NNNNMMM DDDNNNTTT!” all of us chorused through our tapegags, jiggling about like girls possessed as we fought for freedom. But there was nothing we could do to stop Winston’s goons carrying the thief out of my living room and out my front door.
I glared at the Scottish gang leader as defiantly as I could, wanting him to know that I wasn’t frightened or intimidated by him. But all my frowning achieved was to make him laugh at me. “Sorry to intrude on you lassies. Enjoy the rest of your girls night in.” With that Paul Winston waved us goodnight and stepped outside, slamming my living room door shut behind him.
Now we were alone Rachel, Vicky, Abigail, Harriet and I set to work trying to escape our bonds. It was a rare event all five main members of Carrington’s snoop community being tied up at the same time, but at least we weren’t facing some kind of dire peril. Nonetheless I wanted out. The Scarlet Rose was in terrible danger, and I had to save her somehow. OK she might have been an unrepentant jewel thief who had tied me up on numerous occasions, but she wasn’t anywhere as evil as Mr White or Emerald. And she had saved my life in the past. I owed it to her to see she was rescued, and nobody really deserved whatever Paul Winston was going to cook up for her.
So I resumed picking at the knot in Rachel’s wrist bonds, tugging at the loose end with fingers that were becoming increasingly numb and achy. Rachel fell still and looked over her shoulder at me as I worked, as if trying to encourage me using only her deep blue eyes. My efforts weren’t helped by Vicky, who was constricting my waist and causing ropes to rub against the exposed skin of my arms and she tugged and strained for freedom with everything she had.
On my sofa Abigail and Harriet weren’t going down without a fight either. They made a right mess of my previously plumped cushions as they bucked and thrashed. I could see Harriet looking at my house phone on the far side of the room, but with her feet conjoined to Abigail’s I doubted they’d be able to reach it. That didn’t stop them trying, and working together they stood up and made a few tentative bunny hops towards it. But unfortunately they quickly lost their balance, and with a pair of muffled squeaks they toppled over onto the floor, Abigail tumbling on top of Harriet so they lay facing each other.
All I could do was stare at the clock as me and my fellow girl detectives fought vainly for freedom, knowing all the while that if we wanted to save the Scarlet Rose, we were running out of time.
For all our struggles and wriggles none of us made any progress, and the five of us were reduced to nothing more than sitting on my living room floor and wait for rescue. I flexed my hands and feet to stave off pins and needles, reflecting on the cruel irony that the immovable knots the Scarlet Rose had subjected me too were now the reason she wasn’t being rescued. As I fell still so did Rachel, Vicky, Harriet and Abigail, as each of us realised there was little else we could do but stay still and wait.
So wait we did. I had a good view of the clock on my wall as the hands slowly revolved around in a circle. My law of damsel time was truly in effect, and all my clockwatching meant that time seemed to pass three times slower than normal, and all of us limited to sitting still and occasionally emitting a low grunt of dissatisfaction.
But then we heard my front door opening. This roused the attention of all of us, and immediately we started bellowing and crying out through our gags, and stamped our feet against the floor trying to make as much noise as possible. The new arrival heard us instantly, and pushed open my living room door. And when we saw who it was who had found us, we could scarcely believe our eyes.
“Well, seems like I excelled myself with my ropework this time dearies,” The Scarlet Rose smiled at me.
“Wwwwwttt ttthhh hhhlll?” I exclaimed in disbelief, my eyes widening at the sight of her. How could this have happened? Only an hour ago she’d been hogtied tightly and kidnapped by a gang of dangerous criminals. Now here she was untied and free as a bird. How could this have happened?
The Scarlet Rose seemed eager to indulge my curiosity. “Surprised girls?” she grinned. “Don’t be. You see unlike you lot I learnt a long time ago how to escape from tight knots, or how to escape from the boot of a car. Almost a pre-requisite in my line of work. Didn’t take me long to untie myself, and then when I felt the car stop at a traffic light I managed to open the boot and make my escape. The stupid idiots didn’t even realise I was gone. They’ll be in for quite the surprise when they get back up to Glasgow.”
Her story finished, Vicky then asked what we were all thinking. “Ccccnnn yyymmm nntttt sss nnnwwmmm?”
The Scarlet Rose seemed to tilt her head to the side, her frizzy blonde hair falling to one side, and pretended to think over her decision. I could tell she pretended, because her answer was ultimately, “No I think you girls look pretty snug like this.”
“MMMM CCCMMM NNNN!” Harriet, Rachel and I all chorused angrily.
The jewel thief chuckled to herself and said, “Nothing personal girls, I’m sure someone will find you soon. But I just need to make sure I put some distance between myself and Carrington before you get loose. That's the truth about me you see. I hate not tying up loose ends.”
But then, out of nowhere we heard the sound of my front door being flung open, and the Scarlet Rose turned just in time to see three men wearing grey hooded tops barge into my living room. Before she could even react one pulled a dark silk bag over her head, while the other two pinned her hands behind her before fastening them in place with a plastic zip-tie. The Scarlet Rose seemed stunned, and it took her a while to mount any significant resistance or protest through the bag pulled over her head. But by then it was too late, and she was once again hauled out of my house into the night by some mysterious intruders.
One of the men remained for a moment, staring straight at us as if wondering just what to do. I stared back, realising that he wasn’t one of Paul Winston’s men at all. Somebody else was after the Scarlet Rose, but who could it possibly have been? As I mulled over these questions the man realised all of us were otherwise unharmed, and so made to the exit. Vicky, Harriet and Rachel screeched at him as yet another intruder walked out on us leaving us all tied up, but he wasn’t to be deterred. Without saying a word he slammed the door shut on us and disappeared into the night.
It was another forty five minutes odd before we were finally found by, of all people, Felicity and Simon. They had been out on a date and had got back to find Abigail missing, and when they couldn’t contact her or any of us they came to my house to investigate further. And then, like buses, multiple rescuers turned up at once as both my mum and dad returned home, my mum’s train had been delayed and my dad had swung by the station at the end of his shift to pick her up. They got back just as I was peeling the tape from my mouth while Simon and Felicity worked on untangling me from the mass of ropes connecting me to Vicky and Rachel.
Once untied we told them all the whole story from beginning to end, with interjections from Harriet and Abigail about how they had been kidnapped by masked men while wandering around town. My dad quickly leapt into action, contacting the station and ordering that Paul Winston be stopped enroute to Glasgow, and that search teams mobilise to find out where exactly the Scarlet Rose had been taken.
Secretly though I doubted that we would find either Paul Winston or the Scarlet Rose. Winston would be laying low after realising his prize had eluded him once again. As for the Scarlet Rose, well her fate was now out of my hands. I only wish I knew who had been responsible for really capturing her, and what it was they wanted from her.
The Scarlet Rose gave a frustrated tut as she gave another tug against the zip ties pinning her hands and wrists against the armrest of the chair she was bound in, then gave an angry stamp of her high heels against the floor, her feet also bound together with another zip tie. She had not been gagged, but the silk bag was still over her head, meaning she had no idea where she was. She had been trapped against this chair for about half an hour now, yet she hadn’t said a word or cried for help. She was saving her energy for when she found out who had done this to her.
She found out soon enough, as he silk bag was pulled off her head and she found herself staring up at a very familiar face. Adriano of the Guild.
“Hello there handsome. Long time no see,” the Scarlet Rose smiled, instantly relaxing. “To what do I owe the pleasure of being kidnapped by your good self?”
“I think you know why,” the tanned, muscular handsome Italian replied. He was wearing the grey, padded hooded top and dark trousers worn by members of the Guild, an ancient society of thieves dedicated to maintaining balance in the criminal underworld.
She’d never admit it, but the Scarlet Rose had a real soft spot for the handsome thief, and she recognised from his regular, sly glances that the ladies’ man had at least a passing attraction to her. Just as she had done many times in the past she gave a smouldering pout, biting her top lip suggestively while giving a toss of her wavy blonde tresses, trying to lead her captor into temptation. “If you wanted to spend more time with me, why didn’t you kidnap me back when we were working together?”
“Had it not been for the interference of Sara Philips then I would have done,” Adriano retorted unemotionally, not rising to her bait.
The Scarlet Rose huffed when she realised seduction wasn’t going to get her out of this one. “Fine have it your way handsome. So go on, where is he?”
“I’m here, don’t be so impatient,” chided another voice from behind Adriano.
Then a second man emerged from the gloom of the warehouse she was being kept in. He was in his sixties, with a trimmed white beard and matching full head of hair, dressed in a dark suit with a purple silk tie and a trilby hat. The Scarlet Rose swallowed nervously, and tried to avert her gaze from him. She knew exactly who this man was.
“Give us a moment alone Adriano, there’s a good chap,” this new arrival asked in an impeccably posh British accent. Adriano immediately obeyed, disappearing into the darkness while the older man pulled up a chair and sat directly opposite the bound thief. He sat in silence for a moment, as did she, as if neither quite knew how to begin the conversation. Eventually the man gave a sigh and remarked, “You’ve been a naughty girl Lavender.”
“Don’t call me that,” the Scarlet Rose snapped, staring at the floor.
The man continued as if he’d never been interrupted. “Involved with over sixty burglaries and robberies over the past three years, tying your victims up and leaving a lipstick imprint as your calling card, with multiple international arrest warrants made against you.”
“Well don’t sound that surprised,” the Scarlet Rose scoffed. “You were the one who trained me after all.”
“I trained you to be a member of the Guild,” the man replied softly, yet authoritatively. “It was my intention for you to serve others, not to serve yourself.”
“That’s why I ran away!” the Scarlet Rose snapped. “I couldn’t stand all your rules and traditions. You drove me crazy. Going it alone was the best decision I could ever have made.”
The man looked to the floor, suddenly quite downcast. “Listen, I have not brought you back here to go over the same arguments, or to persuade you to come back.”
The Scarlet Rose gave a double take. She hadn’t expected that. “Well, what is this about exactly?”
The man paused, before he said solemnly. “I’m afraid it is your mother. She is ill…very ill. She has been for some time and…I fear she won’t last for much longer.”
Then, for the first time in a long, long time, the woman who had adopted the persona of the Scarlet Rose let her emotions get the better of her. “Mum’s ill?” she shrieked, wriggling against her bonds with renewed vigour. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I would have done if I could have tracked you down,” the man replied as he moved over with a pocket knife to cut her free. “That was why I sent Adriano after you before, but after that unfortunate business with Sara Philips you disappeared again. Had Paul Winston not made his move we might never have found you in time.”
As she was freed from her bonds the Scarlet Rose stood up, rubbing her chafed limbs. “Where is she?”
“In safe hands not too far away from here,” the bearded man replied. “I’ll take you to her, and the decision as to whether you stay or move on I leave up to you.”
He beckoned her to follow him out of the warehouse to where a car was waiting for them. As the two thieves approached the black limousine the Scarlet Rose suddenly asked, “So how exactly did you find me then?” The man did not reply, instead staring straight forward as if trying to avoid the question. But she managed to deduce how he had done it through his silence. “Of course, Sara Philips. You’ve got one of your lackeys watching her haven’t you?” she breathed in realisation. The man continued to remain silent, at which her fraught patience finally snapped. “For God’s sake dad you should leave the poor girl alone. We all should. She’s been through enough.”
“Would that we could,” the bearded man finally remarked. “Unfortunately events are threatening to spiral out of control. We may not like it, but the fate of Sara Philips may yet prove to determine the fate of us all.”
“Juice if that’s OK?” Rachel replied as she took a seat on my sofa, after resting her tennis racket against mine from where I’d propped it against the wall. She pulled away her hair bobble to release her long dark hair, which tumbled onto her white polo top which she’d combined with a short white sports skirt, white socks and matching trainers. “I need something refreshing to bask in my epic victory!” she yelled at me from my living room into my kitchen.
“Yeah yeah, would little miss smug like ice in her juice?” I asked as I poured us both a drink. I had already loosened my brown locks from my ponytail so it fell past my ears, my outfit consisting of a green sleeveless sports top with black gym shorts, black pop socks and white trainers.
As I dumped a couple of ice cubes into our drinks I reflected upon our recent tennis game. It had been a recent idea of ours. After the events at the Herringford Glen Leisure Complex, Rachel and I had realised that we weren’t spending as much time together as we used to. To rectify this, and to keep us in top physical condition for our snooping antics, we’d decided to regularly play regular tennis games with each other. It was quite an intriguing matchup. Rachel is a more skilful player then me, but I compensate for that with my superior endurance and fitness. Still, she’d just got the better of me this time, and as I brought her drink out to her she wasn’t going to let me forget it.
“Regret trying to lob me in that second set tiebreak?” Rachel smiled at me.
“Worked when I tried it in the first set,” I retorted. We both took an eager gulp of refreshment, before I said, “I really enjoyed our game. Glad we decided to give the refurbished tennis centre a go!”
“Me too. Shame it’s taken us so long to get around to it really.” We both paused for a second before she added, “I’m sorry I haven’t been that good a friend recently.”
“You have nothing to apologise for,” I told her. “You’re in a relationship now Rach, our free moments together were always going to dwindle.”
“Yeah but it’s different when my bloke happens to be your twin brother,” Rachel sighed, running her hand through her long raven locks. “It’s just after all we’ve been through together, I’d hate for us to drift, you know.”
“Yeah like there’s ever a chance of that happening,” I smiled. “Why don’t we make up for lost time tonight and play some games or watch a movie? My dad’s on duty, mum’s meeting her agent, Chris is at band practice, I’m well ahead with my coursework and Felicity says there’s nothing worth investigating at the moment. Why don’t we have a girl’s night in and enjoy ourselves?”
Rachel smiled back at me and replied, “As long as you have a bottle of wine chilling then that sounds like a plan to me!”
So Rachel and I began discussing what our plans for the night were to be, weighing up whether to watch a cheesy action flick or play a couple of round of Mario Kart on our Wii. Little did either of us realise that the evening ahead would end up progressing in a way neither of us could have predicted.
Oblivious to the dark turn our evening was about to take, I fired up the Wii and we played a couple of rounds of Mario Kart. I was much more adapt at video game cartoon racing then I was at tennis, and Rachel had a hard time keeping up with me as I blasted to the head of the pack playing as Yoshi riding a motorbike. “Yes, five victories to two!” I cried triumphantly as I crossed the line in first place.
“Got to beat me at something,” Rachel retorted playfully. “Come on girl, where you keeping the wine then?”
“Check the fridge, think there’s some sauvignon in there!” I told her as I returned to the main menu to prepare for another round. Rachel got to her feet and bounded into my kitchen, a definite spring entering the dark haired girl’s step as she eagerly anticipated her large glass of wine. I remained on the sofa waiting for the game to load, until I heard my phone buzzing from where I had stashed it in the pocket of my gym shorts. I had been sent a message.
I thought nothing of it at the time, thinking it was probably either Harriet or Abigail. But it had instead been sent by a private number my phone could not identify. The message I had been sent read as follows:-
‘HEED MY WARNING SARA PHILIPS. YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ARE IN DANGER. CONTACT THEM AND YOUR FAMILY BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE, AND BE PREPARED. THEY ARE COMING FOR YOU!”
Well naturally, I was pretty stunned at receiving such a dramatic text message. I had to reread it a couple of times to make sure I had actually viewed it correctly. I was still having trouble processing it when Rachel returned bringing me a large glass of something suitably alcoholic. But I was no longer in the mood for relaxing, and without hesitating I showed her the message. Rachel’s broad smile immediately contorted into a frown as she tried to decipher its meaning.
“That’s really weird,” Rachel exclaimed. “Not to mention a bit frightening. You reckon it’s just someone’s idea of a sick joke?”
I shook my head. “I dunno, we’ve met some powerful people Rach; People who know if we were in danger and would be able to warn us if someone was going to try something.”
“Try what?” Rachel pointed out. “What could they possibly be warning us about? Mr White? Emerald?”
“Whatever this is about I need to let Dad know,” I said, searching my phone for his number. “Why don’t you try to contact Felicity see if she has any ideas as to what’s this about?” Rachel nodded in agreement, and got up to retrieve her mobile from her gym bag, which she’d left in my kitchen. Once I was left alone I tried calling my dad, AKA Chief Inspector Harry Philips. But I couldn’t get hold of him. Realising he was probably out on duty, I left him a voicemail message telling him about the text anyway. I then tried to contact my mum to inform her of this, but I couldn’t get through to her either. I momentarily began to wonder where she was. She was supposed to get home from her meeting with her literary agent hours ago.
“Can’t get through to them Rach, you have any luck contacting Felicity?”
I got no reply.
The sudden silence engulfing my house unnerved me, and I got to my feet to find out what had happened to my friend. I called out her name again, but once again no reply. Now really confused, I entered the kitchen and saw Rachel standing by the fridge, her eyes wide with shock.
And she wasn’t the only one standing in my kitchen.
Somehow, for reasons completely beyond my comprehension, Rachel was standing by the door to my walk in pantry, looking open mouthed to the kitchen floor to where my girl detective rival Vicky lay bound and gagged.
“Fffffllllppsss? Wwwwwttt tttthhh hhhlll?” Vicky mumbled incoherently through the layers of silver duct tape slathered over her mouth. She had been bound with white cotton ropes pinning her hands behind her back, fixing her legs together at the ankles and knees, and enveloping her upper body pressing her arms against her sides. She was wearing a dark long sleeved top with matching miniskirt, tan tights and high heeled ankle boots, a dark headband in her bright blonde hair to keep it off her freckled face.
At first Rachel and I could only gawp at her in disbelief, neither of us sure what to make of this turn of events. Eventually I managed to utter, “Where in God’s name did she come from?”
“I don’t know,” Rachel retorted in bemusement. “I was just trying to phone Felicity when I heard someone banging on your pantry door from the inside. I opened it up and there she was, kicking the door with her heels.”
Vicky gave another angry stamp of said heels against my tiled kitchen floor as she waited very impatiently for release. “Nnnnnyyyyy ttttmmm nnnnwwwmmm fffflllppsss!” she grunted as her face flushed red behind her gag.
Rachel and I finally knelt down to release her, both of us wanting to find out the meaning behind this bizarre situation. Rachel went to untie Vicky’s hands while I peeled away her tapegag. But as I tugged at the loose corner of the silvery, sticky material I noticed that written onto it in bright red ink was a sequence of numbers which looked suspiciously like a phone number.
Deciding to ignore this detail for a moment I removed the tape from Vicky’s lips, though I didn’t outstretch my generosity as far as to yank out the sponge wad that had been crammed in her mouth. She spat it out herself, then took a couple of deep breaths before she snapped, “Take your bloody time why don’t you?”
“Are you going to tell me what you’re doing tied up in my kitchen?” I snapped back.
Vicky gave me an icy glare as Rachel freed her hands, before retorting sarcastically, “Just did it for shits and giggles Philips. How the hell should I know?”
“Well what did happen to you then?” Rachel asked. “And why didn’t you make a noise earlier?”
As Vicky pulled the ropes that had been enveloping her upper body up over her head she shrugged and replied, “I was just doing some coursework in our college library when someone chloroformed me from behind. When I woke up I was in there. And unlike you two, I’m not one for attracting attention to myself when I wake up bound and gagged locked in an enclosed place somewhere I don’t recognise. I wanted to make sure it was definitely you two before I made my presence known.”
I looked at Rachel and nodded at her to indicate that I believed her story. I doubt Vicky would have any reason to lie to me. But unfortunately her story just raised more questions. “You have any idea why someone would do this to you, and then take you from college to my house?” I asked.
“Don’t have a clue, and I’m guessing you don’t either?” Vicky retorted. “Figures,” she added indignantly under her breath as I shook my head at her.
It was then I returned my attention to the phone number written on the silver strips of duct tape that had previously been over Vicky’s lips. Quickly I entered the number into my mobile, and before Rachel or Vicky could stop me I pressed call and put it onto loudspeaker. We didn’t have to wait long before someone answered me.
“So, you found your feisty little friend then?” said a mysterious voice down the phone, using an electronic voice distorter to disguise their voice.
Before I could say anything Vicky roared at my phone, “You’ve got some nerve, kidnapping me in broad daylight. If I ever find you then I’m going to shove that chloroform rag right up your…”
“I’ll take that as a yes,” the electronic sounding voice sneered.
“What’s going on?” Rachel asked. “What’s all this about?”
“This is about revenge my dear,” the voice taunted. “Sweet, delicious revenge. You girls managed to spoil months of planning and set back our operations by months, and now you are going to pay for it. And that applies to you and all your little band of mates.”
“Like hell that’s going to happen!” I insisted. “I swear that if you do anything to hurt my friends…”
“Oh dear me, look at the time girls,” the voice interrupted. “It seems to be well past your bedtime.”
Rachel, Vicky and I fell silent, not sure what he meant by that. But then we all heard an ominous beeping noise coming from the pantry in which Vicky had been stashed. I felt my heart freeze over as I saw placed inside it a metal, cylindrical device. The beeps continued for a couple seconds more, before a hatch opened in the device, through which a stifling, white coloured cloud of smoke was ejected at an incredible speed.
Rachel, Vicky and I were suddenly engulfed by the smoke, which swirled around our feet and billowed up round our bodies. Suddenly I was coughing as a sickly sweet smell invaded my nostrils. I tried to fight it but I couldn’t and I could hear the other two girls spluttering at my side. Suddenly in addition to these coughs I began to feel lightheaded and woozy, and I struggled to stay on my feet. Only then did I realise that my kitchen was being filled with knock out gas.
I tried everything to stop the smoke getting into my mouth and nose, covering my face with my arm and running to the window to get some fresh air. But soon I could barely walk, feeling like weights were attached to my ankles. Ultimately I fell to my knees, and then rolled over onto my side, as behind me both Vicky and Rachel succumbed to the same fate. Finally, after a few final coughs my eyelids fluttered to a close, not knowing what I would find when I woke up.
For how long I was out I don’t know, but it must have been a while. I realised this when I eventually awoke and saw the large quantities of rope that had been used to bind me. My hands were tied behind my back, and my legs bound at the ankles and knees. Adding to this however was an extremely long length or cord which had been wrapped around my waist and arms, which circled around a similarly bound Rachel and Vicky pinning us together, sitting us back to back in a kind of Y shape.
Upon waking I emitted a frustrated groan at once again finding myself as a bound prisoner, at which point I realised that I had again been gagged. Strips of tape had been slathered over my lips, keeping what tasted like a sponge wad sealed in my mouth. Immediately I began testing my restraints, tugging against the ropes wound about my diaphragm and alternating my shoulders up and down with my brown hair brushing my exposed shoulders, but escape once again eluded me.
What my struggles did achieve however was to wake Rachel and Vicky from their induced slumber. Rachel was tied to my left, Vicky to my right, and upon waking they too began struggling fervently against their bonds and making muted exclamations through their gags. Boy did they wriggle, especially Vicky who seemed furious at being tied up twice in the space of a few hours. But all our efforts brought us was chafed legs and arms, and uncomfortable tugs and jolts against our waists.
So intent I had been with escaping it took me a while to realise we had been taken out of my kitchen into my living room. The curtains had been drawn and lights turned on, but my Wii had not been switched off. In fact, someone was playing Mario Kart right now, guiding Donkey Kong around a sharp corner on Rainbow Road. I then looked to my sofa and my eyes widened in shock when I saw who was playing.
“Fun game this,” The Scarlet Rose beamed at me when she saw me looking at her. “Not a patch on the original though.”
“YYYYMMMMM!” Vicky and I chorused as we both recognised the women who had been responsible for having us tied up and imprisoned numerous times in the past. The Scarlet Rose was a truly beautiful woman in her mid-thirties with frizzy, sandy blonde hair. Today she was dressed in a black office dress with dark stockings and matching high heels, her beautifully red varnished nails clutching the Wii Wheel tightly as she concentrated on completing her final lap. Yet underneath the glamorous exterior was one of the country’s most infamous and prolific jewel thieves, one who relished in seducing rich, unsuspecting victims and then restraining them while she made off with their precious possessions. So it was no wonder Vicky and I assumed that she had repeated the process on us once again.
After guiding Donkey Kong to a respectable third place finish she put the controller down and stood up to examine us, flashing the three bound eighteen year olds a pearly white smile. “Lovely to see my favourite two teen sleuths again,” she smiled at Vicky and I. “Learnt to get on yet?”
“Gggggttt wwwmmmm!” Vicky snarled as I redoubled my efforts, really not being in the mood for being at this thief’s mercy yet again.
The Scarlet Rose then walked around us in a circle to examine my raven haired best friend. “You must be Sara’s partner in crime Rachel,” she said cheerily. “I don’t believe we have had the pleasure of a formal introduction yet. I hope you don’t begrudge all the time Sara and I have spent together during our last couple of meetings.”
“Ssssccrrr yyymmm!” Rachel growled through her gag, stamping her trainer clad feet against my carpet and glaring at the woman with her deep blue eyes.
The Scarlet Rose merely laughed at her defiance, and then said suggestively, “And, permit me to say, you are just gorgeous Rachel. A real stunner. No wonder Sara here is so fond of you.”
My eyes widened at the same time Rachel’s did, and we both looked over our shoulders at each other in confusion. Was she implying what we thought she was implying?
The Scarlet Rose saw our confused looks, at which she laughed even harder. “Oh you girl detectives are such a bunch of goody two shoes. It makes you so much fun to tease.”
God this woman was really trying my patience, but I realised an angry reaction was what she wanted. So I sat still and stared forward, waiting for her to reveal just what was going on here.
I didn’t have to wait long, as the Scarlet Rose returned to face me and said, “OK, I know what this looks like dears, but the truth is that I’m not exactly the one who did this to you. You see, the real reason I’m here is to make sure Sara received my text message.”
I blinked at her in astonishment. So she had been the one had texted me that warning. She could see I was surprised, so she didn’t hang about in explaining why. “The thing is Sara, I’ve been keeping a low profile since we last met, but I’ve kept my ears open. You remember Alfie and his little band, the ones I was working with? Well he was only one member of a larger criminal group, the Winston Gang. And a little while ago a little bird told me their members were planning revenge upon the girls responsible for ruining a plan which saw thousands of pounds of investment thrown away and six gang members arrested.”
I found myself catching Vicky’s eye at this point. So the gang of jewel thieves who a couple of months ago we had uncovered in an abandoned brickworks had come back for revenge. That explained why Vicky had been targeted first and why they’d come after me next. But what did this mean for my friends? Where they safe?
The Scarlet Rose began pacing around us as she finished her story. “I may be many things Sara, but I don’t delight in causing pain to teenage girls. So I came back to Carrington to tip you off and head off the gang. But they got here before me, and by the time I got to your house two gang members had knocked the three of you out and were tying you up. Luckily I was on hand to return the favour, so now they’re the ones occupying your pantry.”
“Wwwwyyyy rrr www sssstttlll tttdd ppp tthhnn?” Vicky growled, her eyes narrowed dangerously.
“Oh, I kept you tied up because I knew if you woke up unbound you’d be out the door snooping your pretty little faces off as usual,” the Scarlet Rose explained. “But with members of the Winston Gang still out there I decided to keep you tucked up in here out of danger. Hope you don’t mind?”
“LLLLLTTT SSSS GGGGMMMMM!” Vicky, Rachel and I chorused furiously.
“Thought not!” the Scarlet Rose smiled. “Just sit down and have a good wriggle while I make sure the rest of the Winston Gng can’t bring any harm to you and your friends. I’m sure someone will find you soon.”
Indeed someone did find us soon, and all four of us fell still at the sound of someone approaching the front door.
Rachel, Vicky and I fell still at the sound of my front door being forced open, the Scarlet Rose also turning her head with a swish of her frizzy blonde hair as the door to my living room was then flung open. In walked a dark suited man with short cut grey hair and a matching beard. He was flanked on either side by two of his muscled goons, also dressed in sharp expensive suits. They were members of the Winston Gang, and the bearded man in the centre was their leader, Paul Winston.
The criminal leader examined the scene in front of him, noting the three bound and gagged girls arranged in a circle, and the infamous jewel thief standing over them, before remarking in a devious, icy voice with a strong Glaswegian accent, “And a very good evening to you to Miss Rose.”
“Paul Winston,” The Scarlet Rose replied curtly. “To what do I owe the displeasure?”
Paul Winston nodded in my direction and replied “That little gang of girls at your feet there. Thanks for corralling them up for me. I was beginning to fear they’d got away when I lost contact with my subordinates. Now perhaps you’d care to step out the way.”
“Not a chance,” The Scarlet Rose snarled in reply.
Vicky, Rachel and I sat in stunned silence, not quite believing what we were witnessing. Was the Scarlet Rose actually protecting us?
But instead of looking angry, Paul Winston merely smiled deviously, which in some ways was even worse. “Admirable sentiment,” he sneered, “But it won’t do my guests of honour much good.”
“What’s that mean?” the jewel thief sneered.
Paul Winston didn’t reply directly, instead he turned his head to yell out the door, “Bring them in lads!”
From the moment I heard a very distinguished, though muffled squeak I realised with a sinking feeling who Paul Winston’s guests were. Sure enough he and his goons parted to let two more suit wearing men in, both of whom had in their grasp a pair of very familiar girls.
Abigail and Harriet wriggled against the men gripping them by the shoulders, unable to put up much resistance with their hands bound behind them and layers of black duct tape plastered over their lips. The two remaining members of the CGDA had evidently been snatched separately. The blonde haired Abigail dressed casually in a black top, red tartan miniskirt, dark tights and bright red flats, having evidently been on her way to meet her boyfriend James. Red headed Harriet was wearing the green and white striped sports shirt of her local women’s football team, complete with white shorts and long green football socks (her boots had were nowhere to be seen) Evidently she had been nabbed shortly after her match had finished.
Paul Winston moved behind Abigail and to her horror he placed his hand on her shoulder. Over her panicked squeaks (and our cries of muted protest), he said, “If you don’t stop being such a goddamn nuisance then this will be the girl who suffers first. You understand?”
It seemed The Scarlet Rose did. Realising she was completely outnumbered and with no hope of being able to rescue us all, she gave a resigned tut and put her hands above her head. Winston’s goons wasted no time at all, darting forward and roughly grabbing her, pinning her hands behind her back. “Ow, watch the suit gentlemen. You want me to send you the dry cleaning bill when you’re in a prison cell?” she snapped defiantly.
“Still so defiant,” Paul Winston sneered. “Use some liquid persuasion on her lads; that should calm her down!”
“I’ll give you calmed down you psychotic, son of a bbbccchhhhh nnnnmmm!” The Scarlet Rose’s furious tirade was curtailed by one of the gang members clamping a rag, presumably doused in chloroform, over her lower face. Boy did she struggle, lashing out with her feet so her high heels flew off her feet and tugging to free her hands and arms with everything she had, but ultimately she wasn’t strong enough, and as her eyes rolled into her sockets I realised the chloroform had defeated the infamous Scarlet Rose.
As her head dropped in the direction of the floor Paul Winston gave an indignant scoff. “Make damn sure none of these ladies are going anywhere else tonight,” he instructed his goons.
The men were only too eager to oblige. Harriet and Abigail were bustled over to my sofa and forced to take a seat, before the men produced more white coloured rope and used them to bind their ankles and knees together. As a finishing touch their tied Harriet and Abigail’s conjoined ankles together with a short length of rope, which would effectively stop them from hopping about the room in search of escape. Mine and Harriet’s eyes met as the cord about her exposed knees were cinched, at which she asked me through her tapegag, “Yymmm kkkkk sssrrr?” I nodded at her in reply, trying to stay calm despite the ever increasing direness of our situation.
The unconscious Scarlet Rose was laid out on the floor at Vicky’s feet, where more rope was efficiently used to lash her hands behind her, her stocking clad ankles together, and wound about her knees and upper body. Finally one last length was used to join her feet to her hands in a taught hogtie. To make sure she couldn’t make up a fuss, a sponge was stuffed into her mouth before covered with layers of black duct tape.
As the men worked I continued to struggle myself, though I had to make sure that none of our captors noticed. Rachel joined me, and our hands brushing against each other we searched for knots to pick with our flailing fingers. Finally I found the knot used to bind Rachel’s hands together, and it seemed to be a little on the loose side. I realised if Rach and I worked together we could probably get free of our own accord sooner or later. But that would depend on whether Paul Winston and his gang realised what we were up to, or indeed what their ultimate plan for us was.
It seemed like Winston wasn’t going to wait long to tell us. He paced around the room until he came to me, at which he gave me a very sinister, highly punch-able smile. “So, this is the famous Sara Philips,” he remarked at me. “Pretty lass aren’t you? But difficult to believe someone like you is capable of causing me so much trouble. Over two million pounds worth of trouble to be precise.”
“Mmmmm ssssmmm ssssrrryyy!” I mumbled sarcastically at him.
I think he got my meaning, because he let out a low chuckle as he crouched in front of me. “I was originally going to conduct this whole game thing, where I enacted my revenge by having you run around town trying to find your kidnapped friends before I ultimately had you captured anyway. Would have been great fun. Pity your friend over there had to ruin everything,” he explained to me, his eyes flickering over to the hogtied and sleeping Scarlet Rose.
He then shrugged, and playfully ruffled my brown hair before saying, “Well I guess this will have to do. And hey, at least I get to spring one surprise on you.”
Paul Winston had a surprise for me? I didn’t like the sound of that.
Winston gave me a knowing smile, before he got to his feet and looked at the sleeping and bound jewel thief lying at the side. “This evening hasn’t actually been about kidnapping you girls,” he explained. “That was just an…added bonus, shall we say. My real motivation has been to use you as bait, to draw this devious woman out of hiding.”
“Wwwwwwttt?” Vicky and I enquired mutedly through our gags in surprise.
As Winston inspected the Scarlet Rose he continued to explain, “This woman might have blown our jewel job to save your life, but what you didn’t know is that after she ensured your safety she got my men arrested and stole all the jewels for herself. You think that she genuinely cares for your safety Sara, but ultimately she just cares about herself. She didn’t come to Carrington to save you, she came here to cover her own arse.”
Paul Winston then returned to looking at me, and suddenly his expression changed to one of fury. “However my young detective, do not think that I have forgiven you for ruining my plans and leaving me millions of pounds out of pocket. The only reason you’re still alive is because I don’t agree with disposing of teenagers, no matter how meddlesome they might be. But if you should ever cross me again Sara Philips, you or any of your little chums here, then I won’t be held responsible for what happens to you. You’ve seen tonight what I’m capable of, so consider this your only warning!”
With that he clicked his fingers at his subordinates, and two of them rushed over to the sleeping Scarlet Rose and picked her up, still bound in her hogtie. “This beautiful lady is coming with me however,” he explained triumphantly. “Say goodbye to her lassies, I doubt you’ll be seeing her again after tonight.”
“NNNNMMM DDDNNNTTT!” all of us chorused through our tapegags, jiggling about like girls possessed as we fought for freedom. But there was nothing we could do to stop Winston’s goons carrying the thief out of my living room and out my front door.
I glared at the Scottish gang leader as defiantly as I could, wanting him to know that I wasn’t frightened or intimidated by him. But all my frowning achieved was to make him laugh at me. “Sorry to intrude on you lassies. Enjoy the rest of your girls night in.” With that Paul Winston waved us goodnight and stepped outside, slamming my living room door shut behind him.
Now we were alone Rachel, Vicky, Abigail, Harriet and I set to work trying to escape our bonds. It was a rare event all five main members of Carrington’s snoop community being tied up at the same time, but at least we weren’t facing some kind of dire peril. Nonetheless I wanted out. The Scarlet Rose was in terrible danger, and I had to save her somehow. OK she might have been an unrepentant jewel thief who had tied me up on numerous occasions, but she wasn’t anywhere as evil as Mr White or Emerald. And she had saved my life in the past. I owed it to her to see she was rescued, and nobody really deserved whatever Paul Winston was going to cook up for her.
So I resumed picking at the knot in Rachel’s wrist bonds, tugging at the loose end with fingers that were becoming increasingly numb and achy. Rachel fell still and looked over her shoulder at me as I worked, as if trying to encourage me using only her deep blue eyes. My efforts weren’t helped by Vicky, who was constricting my waist and causing ropes to rub against the exposed skin of my arms and she tugged and strained for freedom with everything she had.
On my sofa Abigail and Harriet weren’t going down without a fight either. They made a right mess of my previously plumped cushions as they bucked and thrashed. I could see Harriet looking at my house phone on the far side of the room, but with her feet conjoined to Abigail’s I doubted they’d be able to reach it. That didn’t stop them trying, and working together they stood up and made a few tentative bunny hops towards it. But unfortunately they quickly lost their balance, and with a pair of muffled squeaks they toppled over onto the floor, Abigail tumbling on top of Harriet so they lay facing each other.
All I could do was stare at the clock as me and my fellow girl detectives fought vainly for freedom, knowing all the while that if we wanted to save the Scarlet Rose, we were running out of time.
For all our struggles and wriggles none of us made any progress, and the five of us were reduced to nothing more than sitting on my living room floor and wait for rescue. I flexed my hands and feet to stave off pins and needles, reflecting on the cruel irony that the immovable knots the Scarlet Rose had subjected me too were now the reason she wasn’t being rescued. As I fell still so did Rachel, Vicky, Harriet and Abigail, as each of us realised there was little else we could do but stay still and wait.
So wait we did. I had a good view of the clock on my wall as the hands slowly revolved around in a circle. My law of damsel time was truly in effect, and all my clockwatching meant that time seemed to pass three times slower than normal, and all of us limited to sitting still and occasionally emitting a low grunt of dissatisfaction.
But then we heard my front door opening. This roused the attention of all of us, and immediately we started bellowing and crying out through our gags, and stamped our feet against the floor trying to make as much noise as possible. The new arrival heard us instantly, and pushed open my living room door. And when we saw who it was who had found us, we could scarcely believe our eyes.
“Well, seems like I excelled myself with my ropework this time dearies,” The Scarlet Rose smiled at me.
“Wwwwwttt ttthhh hhhlll?” I exclaimed in disbelief, my eyes widening at the sight of her. How could this have happened? Only an hour ago she’d been hogtied tightly and kidnapped by a gang of dangerous criminals. Now here she was untied and free as a bird. How could this have happened?
The Scarlet Rose seemed eager to indulge my curiosity. “Surprised girls?” she grinned. “Don’t be. You see unlike you lot I learnt a long time ago how to escape from tight knots, or how to escape from the boot of a car. Almost a pre-requisite in my line of work. Didn’t take me long to untie myself, and then when I felt the car stop at a traffic light I managed to open the boot and make my escape. The stupid idiots didn’t even realise I was gone. They’ll be in for quite the surprise when they get back up to Glasgow.”
Her story finished, Vicky then asked what we were all thinking. “Ccccnnn yyymmm nntttt sss nnnwwmmm?”
The Scarlet Rose seemed to tilt her head to the side, her frizzy blonde hair falling to one side, and pretended to think over her decision. I could tell she pretended, because her answer was ultimately, “No I think you girls look pretty snug like this.”
“MMMM CCCMMM NNNN!” Harriet, Rachel and I all chorused angrily.
The jewel thief chuckled to herself and said, “Nothing personal girls, I’m sure someone will find you soon. But I just need to make sure I put some distance between myself and Carrington before you get loose. That's the truth about me you see. I hate not tying up loose ends.”
But then, out of nowhere we heard the sound of my front door being flung open, and the Scarlet Rose turned just in time to see three men wearing grey hooded tops barge into my living room. Before she could even react one pulled a dark silk bag over her head, while the other two pinned her hands behind her before fastening them in place with a plastic zip-tie. The Scarlet Rose seemed stunned, and it took her a while to mount any significant resistance or protest through the bag pulled over her head. But by then it was too late, and she was once again hauled out of my house into the night by some mysterious intruders.
One of the men remained for a moment, staring straight at us as if wondering just what to do. I stared back, realising that he wasn’t one of Paul Winston’s men at all. Somebody else was after the Scarlet Rose, but who could it possibly have been? As I mulled over these questions the man realised all of us were otherwise unharmed, and so made to the exit. Vicky, Harriet and Rachel screeched at him as yet another intruder walked out on us leaving us all tied up, but he wasn’t to be deterred. Without saying a word he slammed the door shut on us and disappeared into the night.
It was another forty five minutes odd before we were finally found by, of all people, Felicity and Simon. They had been out on a date and had got back to find Abigail missing, and when they couldn’t contact her or any of us they came to my house to investigate further. And then, like buses, multiple rescuers turned up at once as both my mum and dad returned home, my mum’s train had been delayed and my dad had swung by the station at the end of his shift to pick her up. They got back just as I was peeling the tape from my mouth while Simon and Felicity worked on untangling me from the mass of ropes connecting me to Vicky and Rachel.
Once untied we told them all the whole story from beginning to end, with interjections from Harriet and Abigail about how they had been kidnapped by masked men while wandering around town. My dad quickly leapt into action, contacting the station and ordering that Paul Winston be stopped enroute to Glasgow, and that search teams mobilise to find out where exactly the Scarlet Rose had been taken.
Secretly though I doubted that we would find either Paul Winston or the Scarlet Rose. Winston would be laying low after realising his prize had eluded him once again. As for the Scarlet Rose, well her fate was now out of my hands. I only wish I knew who had been responsible for really capturing her, and what it was they wanted from her.
The Scarlet Rose gave a frustrated tut as she gave another tug against the zip ties pinning her hands and wrists against the armrest of the chair she was bound in, then gave an angry stamp of her high heels against the floor, her feet also bound together with another zip tie. She had not been gagged, but the silk bag was still over her head, meaning she had no idea where she was. She had been trapped against this chair for about half an hour now, yet she hadn’t said a word or cried for help. She was saving her energy for when she found out who had done this to her.
She found out soon enough, as he silk bag was pulled off her head and she found herself staring up at a very familiar face. Adriano of the Guild.
“Hello there handsome. Long time no see,” the Scarlet Rose smiled, instantly relaxing. “To what do I owe the pleasure of being kidnapped by your good self?”
“I think you know why,” the tanned, muscular handsome Italian replied. He was wearing the grey, padded hooded top and dark trousers worn by members of the Guild, an ancient society of thieves dedicated to maintaining balance in the criminal underworld.
She’d never admit it, but the Scarlet Rose had a real soft spot for the handsome thief, and she recognised from his regular, sly glances that the ladies’ man had at least a passing attraction to her. Just as she had done many times in the past she gave a smouldering pout, biting her top lip suggestively while giving a toss of her wavy blonde tresses, trying to lead her captor into temptation. “If you wanted to spend more time with me, why didn’t you kidnap me back when we were working together?”
“Had it not been for the interference of Sara Philips then I would have done,” Adriano retorted unemotionally, not rising to her bait.
The Scarlet Rose huffed when she realised seduction wasn’t going to get her out of this one. “Fine have it your way handsome. So go on, where is he?”
“I’m here, don’t be so impatient,” chided another voice from behind Adriano.
Then a second man emerged from the gloom of the warehouse she was being kept in. He was in his sixties, with a trimmed white beard and matching full head of hair, dressed in a dark suit with a purple silk tie and a trilby hat. The Scarlet Rose swallowed nervously, and tried to avert her gaze from him. She knew exactly who this man was.
“Give us a moment alone Adriano, there’s a good chap,” this new arrival asked in an impeccably posh British accent. Adriano immediately obeyed, disappearing into the darkness while the older man pulled up a chair and sat directly opposite the bound thief. He sat in silence for a moment, as did she, as if neither quite knew how to begin the conversation. Eventually the man gave a sigh and remarked, “You’ve been a naughty girl Lavender.”
“Don’t call me that,” the Scarlet Rose snapped, staring at the floor.
The man continued as if he’d never been interrupted. “Involved with over sixty burglaries and robberies over the past three years, tying your victims up and leaving a lipstick imprint as your calling card, with multiple international arrest warrants made against you.”
“Well don’t sound that surprised,” the Scarlet Rose scoffed. “You were the one who trained me after all.”
“I trained you to be a member of the Guild,” the man replied softly, yet authoritatively. “It was my intention for you to serve others, not to serve yourself.”
“That’s why I ran away!” the Scarlet Rose snapped. “I couldn’t stand all your rules and traditions. You drove me crazy. Going it alone was the best decision I could ever have made.”
The man looked to the floor, suddenly quite downcast. “Listen, I have not brought you back here to go over the same arguments, or to persuade you to come back.”
The Scarlet Rose gave a double take. She hadn’t expected that. “Well, what is this about exactly?”
The man paused, before he said solemnly. “I’m afraid it is your mother. She is ill…very ill. She has been for some time and…I fear she won’t last for much longer.”
Then, for the first time in a long, long time, the woman who had adopted the persona of the Scarlet Rose let her emotions get the better of her. “Mum’s ill?” she shrieked, wriggling against her bonds with renewed vigour. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I would have done if I could have tracked you down,” the man replied as he moved over with a pocket knife to cut her free. “That was why I sent Adriano after you before, but after that unfortunate business with Sara Philips you disappeared again. Had Paul Winston not made his move we might never have found you in time.”
As she was freed from her bonds the Scarlet Rose stood up, rubbing her chafed limbs. “Where is she?”
“In safe hands not too far away from here,” the bearded man replied. “I’ll take you to her, and the decision as to whether you stay or move on I leave up to you.”
He beckoned her to follow him out of the warehouse to where a car was waiting for them. As the two thieves approached the black limousine the Scarlet Rose suddenly asked, “So how exactly did you find me then?” The man did not reply, instead staring straight forward as if trying to avoid the question. But she managed to deduce how he had done it through his silence. “Of course, Sara Philips. You’ve got one of your lackeys watching her haven’t you?” she breathed in realisation. The man continued to remain silent, at which her fraught patience finally snapped. “For God’s sake dad you should leave the poor girl alone. We all should. She’s been through enough.”
“Would that we could,” the bearded man finally remarked. “Unfortunately events are threatening to spiral out of control. We may not like it, but the fate of Sara Philips may yet prove to determine the fate of us all.”
Literature
Bear In Mind
Elenora sat back in the rocking chair, swaying back and forth, eyes closed. No sounds in her tiny, crowded cottage but the creaking of the ancient chair, and the occasional clutter of pans hanging above the stove, as the wind blew through the windows.
Unlike Mil-...Magentaposia's home, Elenora had a real witches cottage.
Well, it was a cottage in principle, at least. Part carved, part grown, buried under an ancient, sprawling old oak, with roots spilling over the sides, her dwelling was practically buried beneath it, and a great deal of foliage. You could mistake it for a rocky, earthy outcrop almost, if it weren't for the windows, and a ch
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Erin's Perilous Birthday Part 2
It took a lot to rattle Stephanie Kosinksi, though she was slightly unnerved at the current sequence of events.
Who knew showing up early to my meeting with Cozzoli would go like this? she thought as the van ambled over uneven roads. Stef couldn't tell where they were - there was a rag tied over her eyes, blindfolding her, and her arms were bound behind her back. She'd been that way the whole ride over. The creeps with Jester masks had burst into Cozzoli's office, armed with guns, just as Stef was showing Cozzoli some designs.
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One Step Further
Over the next two weeks or so, as college and its final exams wound down to a close and summer began to come upon us, things had largely returned to normal.
Well, mostly normal.
Mum and I were by now "experimenting" quite frequently with our fairly rudimentary bondage sessions. We, well Mum at least, had mostly managed to move past the initial awkwardness and embarrassment. I had to a degree that I could at least refer to our games as bondage without blushing and stammering.
Our experience being held hostage had made the local news too, including my part in "foiling" the affair. Random people at college, occasionally somebody on the street
Suggested Collections
Here we go, all the individual parts of Sara's Unpredictable Evening compiled into one, easy to digest story. Thanks every one of you who voted and guided me into creating this story. Was a fun experience.
I've added another section at the end to boot, in which we find out what happened to the Scarlet Rose after she was captured from Sara's house, and we learn a little more about her past as a result.
I've added another section at the end to boot, in which we find out what happened to the Scarlet Rose after she was captured from Sara's house, and we learn a little more about her past as a result.
© 2014 - 2024 Golavus
Comments19
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Ooooooo yes I luv the Scarlett Rose. International thief with a lipstick calling card hehe what's not to love.
Seeing Sara and Rachel play vidoe games together was cute. Sara and Cass would get along in that aspect.
Paul Winston is a reasonable man, letting Sara off with a warning. Something tells me though that Sara won't pay any attention.
The leader of the Guild is must be aware of Mr. White's obsession over Sara, which I find interesting.
Seeing Sara and Rachel play vidoe games together was cute. Sara and Cass would get along in that aspect.
Paul Winston is a reasonable man, letting Sara off with a warning. Something tells me though that Sara won't pay any attention.
The leader of the Guild is must be aware of Mr. White's obsession over Sara, which I find interesting.