A deep male voice was in her ear, “Your Brother says Happy belated Birthday.”
She laughed out loudly, some of the fear abated, “My birthday is in November! It’s January!”
“There’s a soldier outside your back door. He’s an ugly fucker so don’t scream when you see him, we don’t want your neighbours calling the police.”
“I’m not on my own.”
“Who’s in there with you? We know you don’t have your kids there.”
Freddie had walked into her dark bedroom. Her curtains were open and she could see a man standing there by her back door, wearing black combats and black leather combat boots with a back pack over his shoulder and he was watching her. He pointed at her back door and mouthed at her, “Unlock your door.”
“Who’s in there with you Freddie?” The deep male voice was back in her ear.
Freddie looked around for her cat, “My cat...”
He was laughing, “Your cat... I know you’ve seen the soldier outside. Unlock your back door and let him in. He’s not going to hurt you. Remember, your brother set this up.”
Freddie walked into the kitchen closing the door and moving the chair from in front of the back door, “Why doesn’t that statement fill me with confidence? This is my brother we’re talking about, right?”
“Major Mark Mason, yep. He’s got a real funny sense of humour has Mark. Apparently, it runs in the family. Do you have a sense of humour?”
“My ex-husband didn’t seem to think so, but I told him I must have, cos I married him.” Freddie rolled her eyes, yep, the nerves had got her and she was acting the fool trying to make people laugh. She really needed to get that under control. Was it too late to begin now?
Freddie could hear in the tone of the voice in her ear that he’d got the joke as he spoke to her again, “All you have to do is unlock the door and stand back Freddie. You don’t have to open the door, he’ll let himself in. Just remember he’s ugly. Don’t scream.”
Freddie laughed, “He’s not that ugly!” She immediately blushed, oh God, what was wrong with her! It was true though, he wasn’t. He just had a face, and hair that needed a comb by his mum, and that stage of facial hair between stubble and a beard, and a mouth. She needed to stop thinking.
Freddie could see the key in the door and the soldier standing there waiting through the frosted glass door window and moved to unlock the door and her voice was small and soft again, “It’s unlocked.”
“Hang up now.”
Freddie moved away from the door hanging up and heard the door handle being depressed. She held onto her mobile like a safety blanket, pressing it against her lips, it wasn’t big enough to hide behind, and the door was pushed open towards her and the soldier stepped inside. Freddie immediately looked down at her kitchen mat, she didn’t want to look at him. She knew the moment that she did, she would blush. Just like she knew when she focused on the mat, that she should have hoovered earlier and when she looked up again, he’d closed the back door and locked it behind him, turning to face her with his face serious.
Freddie took a step backwards with nowhere to go and he showed his black leather gloved hands to her, “I’m not going to hurt you. OK.”
She nodded and he sneezed, “Baby, got any antihistamines? Cats are my kryptonite.”
Freddie wanted to laugh, but decided it was probably a better idea not to. She pointed to the high kitchen cupboard where all her medicines and plasters were and he gestured the cupboard, opening it, “This one?”
Right at the front was a box of prescription antihistamines and as he opened the box, sneezing again she took a glass from another cupboard and ran the cold tap before filling the glass with water before turning off the tap. She put the glass next to him on the work surface and he picked it up thanking her, putting a couple of the small tablets into his mouth and then swallowing half the water. He put the glass down and took the back pack from his shoulder, holding it out to her, “You’ve got five minutes to get changed and then we’re leaving. If you’re not ready then too bad.”
Freddie just looked at him and he looked at his watch, “Time’s ticking. Four minutes and fifty seconds, forty-nine, forty-eight...”
Freddie took the back pack into her bedroom. It had been heavier than expected and inside were a pair of army boots, white socks, green camouflaged combat trousers, a khaki green t,shirt, long sleeved top and green camouflaged jacket.
“You’re down to four minutes. You need to hurry up now.” Came the soldiers voice from outside her door and she threw the black pyjamas that she always wore around the house, off and opened her knicker draw to pull on the first pair of knickers that she put her hand on but at least they were black and didn’t have any holes in. She had her bra on in a flash as only someone who wore a bra day in, day out, could manage and pulled on the t,shirt, then the trousers and socks and sat down to stuff her feet into the boots swiftly lacing them and securing the laces remembering how a long time soldier ex had showed her how he did his. She did up the trousers when she’d only half pulled on the long sleeved top and the bedroom door was opening and she frowned, “Hey!”
She picked up the jacket whilst pulling down the top with her other hand and he had hold of her arm quite firmly she thought. She could smell him too, he smelled of hard work and something else she couldn’t quite put her finger on but it appealed to her and she felt herself blushing again.
In the hall he let go of her, “Put the jacket on. Do you need to feed your cat?”
Freddie pulled the jacket on shaking her head and did it up as he looked down her stairs, “Does this door go straight outside?”
“No, there’s a hall way downstairs and then the external door which will open from this side, but not from outside.”
He nodded as he stood there with his arms folded and looked back up to her catching her eye and held the look, winking at her, “Yep, we know, we tried. Security conscious people who leave keys in their doors so we can’t pick their locks, what a pain. Still, having to come around the back to try and find a way in has had its advantages.”
He took a step backwards gesturing that she should go downstairs first and she involuntarily took a deep breath, overanalysing the possibilities of what could have happened if they’d walked in on her earlier when she had been decidedly busy in her bedroom, extremely aware that he was watching her every move and as she went downstairs, he followed her, blocking her escape and with the empty day sack back over his shoulder.
Freddie opened her front door reaching for the light and was told to leave it off before she could turn it on. She walked into the hallway, her legs threatening to commit mutiny on her and land her on the floor because her knees were shaking so much. She’d always laughed at the phrase knees knocking, it made her roll her eyes, but here she was, with knocking knees. She could see the rear lights of the Range Rover come on through the door glass as she heard the engine start and for a minute she wanted to turn and go back into her nice, safe flat but as the soldier closed the door behind him it automatically locked. Great. She was locked out. Not the end of the world, she thought as her daughter had a key. What time was it?
The soldier took her arm again, as firmly as before. Was it meant to be menacing, or comforting to be manhandled? He wasn’t manhandling her, he was just..... helping her along. She felt herself feeling braver but as they reached the door he pushed her against the wall whilst slipping something onto her right wrist and then took her other wrist securing them both with black plastic cable tie cuffs which took her slightly by surprise and pulled a black sack over her head, “I’m going to pick you up in a minute and put you into the back of the vehicle. Do not fight me or you’ll get hurt. Do you understand?”
She could only nod, scared now but the adrenaline rush from the whole surreal situation as it had unfolded had kicked in. Her heart was racing, she could physically feel it thumping in her chest and was positive that he could see it too. He’d certainly feel it when he picked her up.
The soldier turned her around bending to put her over his shoulder making her laugh involuntarily with a single Ha! He opened the door to load her directly into the back of the Range Rover before closing her external door, lifting the handle and climbed into the back with her closing the door behind him and the Range Rover pulled off the drive and away. |
