An Education

By Kev Pickering

For Jenny and Cassie Craig, it started with a question that came to their minds after watching a Scooby Doo movie - what was it really like to be a damsel in distress, unable to move or speak?

Their efforts to answer that question would prove invaluable as they faced robbers and home invaders, as well as the most frightening thing a child can face - making new friends and confronting their enemies. Despite their youth, both Cassie and Jenny discover more about themselves, what they like, and their family as over a year they learn new games, new techniques, and have new experiences - all part of their education of life and what it can bring.

In this book, the events are seen through the eyes of innocents, who bring their own perspective to bear on what to some could be terrifying, and to others different experiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Apr 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781291823875

Book preview

An Education

An Education

By KP

Copyright (C) 2012, 2014 Kev PIckering

All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-291-82387-5

This work is licensed under the Creative Communities Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.  To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/

or send a letter to

Creative Commons

171 Second Street, Suite 300

San Francisco, California 94105

USA

http://www.kppresents.com

A Word in Season

This book is a bit of a departure from my usual style, for a number of reasons - the chief one been the age of the protagonists.  Jenny and Cassie, as you will see almost immediately, are two healthy and sane young girls who happen to like been tied up and gagged.  As a result, be it a dangerous or a playful situation, they see only the fun side and nothing else.  As such, I have strived to maintain it as innocent and fun.

The events that are presented here cover about ten months, from their first explorations to - but that would be telling.  Yes, these are young damsels, but their worldview means they are never in any real danger, and despite what happens to them they always emerge unscathed, unharmed and having learned something new.  My own wish for you is that you approach the book with the same openness of mind, and enjoy it for what it is.

Having said which, these stories first appeared in a near complete draft form elsewhere, except for the first and last chapters.  I want to thank Tom Ford, William F Somebody, Imp Caesar Augustus and John Kennon Smith for their support, constructive criticism and comments.  They know who they are, and this is as much down to them as to me.

I hope you enjoy this set of tales.

KP

The Ransom

Aint no doubt, it’s plain to see,

Woman like that’s no good to me...

Lying on his bed on the cool July morning, John Craig was wondering how long he would have to wait before he could put his plan into operation.  It was a good plan, and he knew the others would take part in it, but he needed one of the others to come home first to start things off - and they seemed to be taking an awfully long time.

Eventually he heard the front door open, and his sisters chatting as they came back from the pool.  Looking at his clock, he knew his mother would not be back for another hour - plenty of time to start his game.  Jumping off his bed, he gathered the things he would need into a small rucksack, took a hat from his cupboard and started to creep downstairs.

As he reached the bottom, he could see Cassie in the kitchen, looking in the cupboards for two glasses.  She was wearing the same coral pink sweatshirt and joggers she had left in this morning, although her permed dark hair was still damp.  Leaving her to her searches, he crept quietly into the front room.

Sitting on the couch, with her back to him, was his nine year old younger sister, Connie.  She had a sweat band holding back her long blonde hair, while she was wearing a bright green t-shirt, a blue denim rah-rah skirt and lime green leggings.  A pair of slouch socks was around her ankles, and she was watching the closing minutes of Going Live!

Reaching up, John pulled the edge of his cap down, covering his face so that only his eyes and mouth were showing, and walked up behind Connie, clamping his hand over her mouth with no warning. 

Wmgmgmmmmshhhh - jnnnn, Connie mumbled as she turned her head to look at her older brother.  Jon smiled at her as he said Don’t say a word, little one - just lie face down and out your hands behind your back.

Hggrrtt - you want to play a game, don’t you, Connie said as John took his hand away.  She frowned at him, but still turned over and lay on her stomach, crossing her wrists against her back as she did so.  Putting down his rucksack, John took out an old skipping rope and tied her wrists together, making sure the rope held them tightly together as well as cinching it between her arms.

I’ve got your drink, Connie, Cassie said as she came into the room, stopping as she saw her brother stand up, his head covered in a balaclava.  She was eleven, two years younger than him, but she knew what he was planning to do as he stood there.

Can we at least have our drinks, she said as Connie sat herself up.  You’ll have to hold it for me, she said as she looked at John.

"All right, but I’m still going to kidnap both of you, he said with a smile as he took the glass and held it to Connie’s mouth, allowing her to drink through the straw as Cassie sat on the armchair.

So, how was the class this morning, John said quietly as Connie finished her drink.

Great fun - Jennifer was there again, and was asking where you were today.

Yeah, why are you here, Cassie said as she looked over, I thought you were out for the day.

Change of plans, John said with a smile, I wanted to play a game here.  Now, Cassie, come over here and kneel in front of the couch, and Connie you lie back down again.  I need to make sure you can’t warn mum when she gets back.

Just so long as we’re finished before Dad gets back, Cassie said as she put her glass down and walked over, kneeling in front of the couch next to Connie’s head.  Her younger sister sat still as John wrapped some more rope around her waist, securing her wrists against her back, and then tied one end of another length around her left arm below her elbow.  He then passed it round her tummy, as well as her other arm, anchoring both of them in place before he tied it off and secured her wrists to that band as well.

Helping her to lie down, he put her ankles together and wrapped yet another length of rope around her ankles, pulling her socks against her skin as he wrapped the rope around and between her legs, forcing them to be locked together.  A final length went round her legs, below her knees, before he said Roll over onto your side and don’t say a word.  Now, Cassie, you go and bring me a chair from the dining room - and no funny stuff, or your sister is the one who gets hurt.

How?  Cassie said, at which point John reached back and tickled the back of the younger girl’s legs.  She started squirming and giggling as Cassie said All right - just don’t tickle her and left the room, returning with one of the wooden chairs from the dining table.

Put it on the rug, John said as he stood up, and then sits down on it, with your arms by your sides.

As you demand, oh fearsome kidnapper, Cassie said as she sat down, making Connie laugh as he guided her older sister’s hands behind the back of the chair and started to tie them together, wrists crossed as the rope went between and around her arms.   Cassie grimaced a little as the ropes bit into her bare skin, but still sat still as they were secured to the centre one of the five bars running down the back of the chair.

You know you’re never going to get away with this, she taunted john as he wrapped some rope around her upper body and arms, securing her to the =chair back as he wove the cords through the woodwork, the white a contrast to the dusty pink of her clothing.

Oh taunt all you want, little one, John laughed as he tied the rope off under the joint of the char back and the seat, but we both know he’ll do anything to get his precious girls back - including his wife.  He shuffled round to the front of the chair and placed Cassie’s left leg against the front chair leg, tying it into place at her ankle and knee.

Don’ tell me you’re going to grab Mum as well, Cassie said as she watched John finish tying Cassie to the chair.  No, he replied with a big smile, She’s going to come to you.  Now, open wide.

********

As Miranda Craig parked the car, she was worried.  The news she was hearing was not good - the situation in Iraq was getting tense again, and the last thing she wanted was for David to be called away for an extended period again.

She stepped out of the car, and retrieved her bags from the boot, shutting it before she headed for the door.  The meeting at the Officer’s Mess had been formal, so she was still wearing her white padded jacket and knee length skirt, with a top underneath, and white stiletto shoes.

John, Cassie, Connie, where are you, she called out as she walked into the house, but there was no response, save for a very faint muttering that seemed to be coming from the front room.  Girls, Miranda called out, wondering what was going on as she laid her bags quietly on the floor and walked to the doorway.  Something seemed wrong, unnaturally quiet.

She looked round the corner of the door, and her eyes almost hit the fringe of her blonde hair as she saw Cassie staring back at her over the thick white scarf that had been pulled into her mouth, forcing her lips apart. 

She looked at the bands of white rope around her ankles and legs, and then looked past her to the couch, where Connie was lying on her side, securely bound with rope and with another scarf pulled into her mouth.  Rolling her eyes, Miranda called out Oh god -who did this to you?

To absolutely no surprise to her, she felt something pressed into her back and a young voice trying desperately to sound mature saying Not a word, lady - I have your daughters hostage, and now I’m going to hold you as well.

Please, she said as she slowly raised her hands, don’t hurt me or my girls.  I’ll do whatever you say.

I know you will, John said as he smiled under the Scout mask that he had tied over his mouth, not get in there and kneel on the floor, hands behind your head.

Miranda walked slowly forward, looking at the two girls and mouthing Are you all right?  Both of them nodded and smiled over their gags as she slowly knelt down and put her hands behind her head, waiting for John to do whatever he had planned.

It was hardly the first time he had played these games with his mother and sister, after all - but normally he asked permission and warned them.  This time he had not - which meant he had a plan.  Either way, she would have a word with him later, as she felt her arms been pulled behind her back and the rubbing of cords against her wrists as they were secured together.

What do you want from us, she said as she watched the rope been passed around her arms and chest, feeling them been pulled into her sides as John made sure she was well secured.

I need money, and your husband has plenty of it, John said as he secured his mother’s wrists to the band around her chest - a normal move on his part.  He then pushed her ankles together and passed more rope round them, making sure they were tightly secured as well.  Miranda allowed herself a smile -she now knew what this was about. 

John had brought a letter home from his school the previous day, announcing a trip to Paris, and he had said he wanted to go.  David had said that John would have to wait and see - he always liked to be sure John really wanted to do something before he paid of rit.  This was John’s way of showing that.

She watched as John walked in front of her, noting the scarf he had tied over his mouth and chin, and picked up a cushion which he dropped on the floor.  You can rest your head on that, he said as he helped his mother to lie on her side and rest her head on the round well padded cushion.

Taking more rope, he wrapped it round Miranda’s legs, pulling them together below her knees, and then secured her ankles to the rope around her wrists.  She watched as he walked into the dining room, and came back with a napkin that he had rolled into a thick band.

You need to be quiet now, he said as he held the cloth in front of his mother’s mouth.  Miranda nodded as she opened wide, allowing him to pull the cloth into her mouth and pull the edges around her face, tying them tightly over her hair.  He left the room for a few minutes, returning with a roll of silver duct tape.

Lfthrhrtfww, Miranda mumbled as she raised her head, waiting as John tore the end loose and stuck it to the side of her mouth.  He wound the tape around her head, lifting her hair out of the way as he did so, leaving a grey band around her mouth.

John then did the same to Cassie and Connie, taking particular care with Connie.  He had got into trouble recently when he had wrapped it over her hair, and as he glanced at his mother he saw her nod in appreciation.

Right then, John said as he helped Connie to put her head back down, I need to get in touch with the man who can pay me.  Try not to move too much.  He walked out of the room and closed the door to, watching from a position on the stairs where he could see what his mother and sisters did.

In the room, Cassie tried to move in the chair, but she had to admit her brother had done a good job this time.  Instead she looked at her mother, and mumbled hwddwgttnntttsssss?

Miranda just shook her head, as she watched Connie sit herself up and slide to the end of the couch, before standing up on her bound feet.  She started to hop towards her mother, full of confidence as she made her way over and sat down, then laid her head against Miranda’s body as she hummed to herself.

John chuckled as he watched this - last time he had tied up his sister, he had caught her making her way down the corridor, looking for him.  Now he was going to have to make a phone call - let his father know what was going on.  That way he would get the fee for the trip...

********

I have to admit, the look on your faces when I came home is going to stay with me for quite some time.  At least he didn’t tie your ankles to your wrists as tightly as last time.

David Craig smiled as he passed the dish of potatoes to his right, letting John take it from him as he smiled at his wife.  He had received a call from his son before he left the barracks, and knew what had happened instantly.  He had remained calm, driven home, found his wife and daughters and paid the ransom - in this case the completed form and cheque safely stored in John’s briefcase for Monday.

Mum?

Yes, Connie?

When we are all grown up, and have kids of our own, do you think they will play these games with us?

Miranda put her knife and fork down and looked at her three children.  "That, I am afraid, is going to be entirely up to you.  After all, I only started playing these games with you because you asked me to, after we watched the episode of The Saint.

When the time comes, just remember there is nothing to fear from games, and you’ll be just fine.  Now then, who wants some more chicken?  She took another spoonful of the casserole from the crock pot and placed it on Cassie’s plate, as the conversation turned to other matters...

Learning the Ropes

So we're sitting here. Mum, Cassie and me, watching them leave the room, and I'm not sure what's scaring me the most - the fact that Cassie and I have managed to remain so calm, or the fact that at some point I'll need to explain to mum why we're so calm.

I’m Jenny - Jenny Craig, twelve years old, not the most popular girl in school but then who wants to be like Alicia anyway. My sister Cassie is ten, and goes to the local primary school - she's wearing their uniform now. A yellow puff sleeved dress with a white collar, white ankle socks and black shoes. I had the afternoon off school, so I'm wearing a long light blue t-shirt, dark leggings and black suede boots. Mum has on a mustard coloured cardigan over a white blouse, grey slacks and knee length brown leather boots.

So here we are, sitting here with the television on, wondering what we're going to do next. As Cassie leans over and puts her head on mum's lap, I see her look down and then over to me, a mixture of concern and fear in her eyes. I know she wants to ask us some questions, but now's not the time to do it.

Not that she can anyway - the strips of grey tape that are over all our mouths mean that's not possible. As she looks back down at Cassie, it gives me a chance to try and process everything that's happened, and what I'm going to say to her. I guess I'll need to go back six months, and the day Cassie and I watched that DVD...

********

It was a wet Sunday afternoon in November, and Cassie and I were in my room, watching a Scooby Doo DVD - I think it was one of those that had that girl band in it, but right now I can't remember.

Dad was away at a conference, and Mum was downstairs cooking the Sunday dinner. She was allowing us to watch this while she got on with the work, which suited us as well. Much as we both love her, she can be a bit strict when it comes to the kitchen. She also usually does not like us wearing shoes in the house, so Cassie had on a blue t-shirt over a long sleeved top, jeans and white socks pulled up over her ankles. I had on a grey smock top and leggings, with long green socks on.

At some point, as there always seems to be in these stories, Daphne had been kidnapped and we watched her sitting in a shed, a long scarf over her mouth as she made sounds as if she wasn’t able to talk properly. Cassie looked at me; her black hair pulled back in a pigtail, and said That can’t be true can it? How can a scarf stop her talking properly?

I must have shrugged my shoulders, because she said I’m going to prove it! She got up and walked over to my cupboard, coming back with a long woollen scarf which she tied tightly over her lower jaw. Can u her m, she said through the woollen band, and I nodded, adding I can hear you well enough - I guess it really doesn’t silence you much, maybe just enough. Mind you, maybe it isn’t tight enough.

I got up myself and padded over to the cupboard, taking out another scarf and tying it as tightly as I could over my own mouth. Whhtbt nw, I mumbled, and Cassie nodded to show she could hear me as well. We both looked at each other, and started laughing - we looked ridiculous, Cassie with a black scarf that had pictures of Minnie Mouse on the ends, me with a brown and white zigzag patterned one over mine.

Girls! Dinner!

We both took the scarves off and went downstairs, but something about that situation must have lodged in both our brains, because later that night when I was going to bed, Cassie came into my room again.

Jenny - how do you think you stop someone making a noise like Daphne was, if a scarf is not enough?

I sat on my bed, and said Dunno - guess you have to stop someone either talking or moving their lips. Why? Cassie sat next to me, and said I want to find out - it was fun today, but I still feel like I need to know.

Cassie is a curious kid, and I knew full well that once she set her mind on something, it was going to be difficult to stop her. I also didn’t want her to hurt herself, so I said Tell you what - let's try a few things out next Saturday and see what we can find out.

********

Damn - now I've got an itchy nose. I put my head on mum's sleeve and try rubbing my nose up and down, which makes her give out a muffled laugh as she looks at me. Cassie has fallen asleep on her lap now, her eyes closed. Probably just as well.

As I straighten up again, watching mum try to twist her arms round again, I start thinking again about that next Saturday - the day I first tied Cassie up.

********

Mum and Dad were downstairs, trying to get the housework done, so Cassie and I were up in her room when she said So how do you stop someone calling out?

I looked at her lying on her bed, in a pink Hello Kitty sweatshirt and jogging pants, and said Well, I've been reading up a few things, and apparently there's two ways - put something in their mouth or stop their lips moving. Here, let me show you. There was a small yellow sponge ball sitting on the floor, so I picked it up and squashed it before I put it in my mouth. Ssss, I said as I looked back up at her, icntnttlkvrwwel, cnee?

Cassie laughed at the way I sounded, and it did sound weird. I opened my mouth and took the ball out, saying Yuck as I realised it had soaked up some saliva from inside. Can I have a go, Cassie said, but I shook my head. Oh, please, she said as she opened her blue eyes wide and looked at me, so I got up, walked to the door to close it, and then said All right - but open your mouth wide, and try not to swallow it.

I gently pushed the ball in, but while it had quite comfortably fitted into my mouth it was too big for Cassie, so that she could barely close her teeth over it, never mind her lips. Ddndtlkts, she mumbled as she opened her mouth again and I pulled it back out. Is there something else we can use?

Well, we could try what they do in some of my books, I said as I went and looked in her chest of drawers, looking for something I thought was there. I eventually found it - it been a triangle of green cloth, which had two long ends running from the corners, that she had used to cover her hair from time to time in the summer. I folded it into a pad, and as Cassie opened her mouth I pushed it in. This time she could close her teeth and lips, the two string-like lengths hanging outside.

Try to say something now, I said, and Cassie began singing thwhllsntbsgrndndrnd, rndndrnd, rndndrnd, starting to giggle as she carried on. Eventually she had to open her mouth and spit out the cloth, which was now a much darker green as it fell on the duvet. Now that was funny, she eventually said as she calmed down, and that would keep me a bit quieter. There's only one problem.

Oh, I said as I picked up the soaking cloth and looked at it, What's that?

I could take it out any time, and Daphne could not. I want to do what she did. She looked at me as I thought about what she said.

I don’t know, Cassie - what if Mum comes in?

OH - are you a scaredy cat now, Jenny? She stuck her tongue out and that was it - an official dare.

Right, I said as I stood up, You wait there. I'll get some things from my room, and we'll see who can last the longest. I stood up and walked to my room, but as I got to the door Dad called up What are you two doing?

Just reading, Dad, I said as I called back down. Walking into my room, I picked up a couple of things from my cupboard, and went back to find Cassie sitting up on the bed. I sat down next to her, and said Right - in the books they tie the girl's hands and feet. I'll do it to you, then stop you talking, and then I'll do something similar to myself.

Not the same?

I need to get my hands free, I said as I held up one of my white tennis wrist bands. Ready?

Yes please, Cassie said excitedly, What are you going to do first?

Put your legs on my lap, I said as I sat back, Cassie turning and putting her feet on the top of my jeans. I'd brought in from my room three old skipping ropes, and I used one of them to tie her ankles together. I'd just started in the Scouts, so I had learned how to tie a reef knot - and that's what I did, wrapping the rope round three times and then using a reef knot to secure the ends together. Cassie kicked her legs up, and said That's not very tight.

We're playing - remember, I said as she swung her legs off, and I brought my own feet up, tying my ankles together in the same way. I then picked up the last rope, and said Do you want your hands in front or behind?

In front, Cassie said as she held them out, palms together. I tied them together in the same way I had tied her ankles, and then said right, open your mouth. As she did so, I pushed in a folded up handkerchief from my drawer, and watched as she closed her lips over it. Now, if you spit that out, you lose, understand?

Ysssjn, she mumbled as she watched me push another handkerchief into my own mouth, and then push my hands through the wrist band, the elastic holding my wrists together over the cuffs of my black jumper as I sat next to my younger sister. We looked at each other and tried to make the other laugh - neither of us really wanted to lose this bet.

As it was, we only had fifteen minutes before we heard mum calling up the stairs Girls - we need to go shopping. We spat the cloths out and I pulled my hands free, reaching over and releasing Cassie afterwards. Five minutes later, I'd put what we had used into a plastic bag in my room, and we were both running down the stairs.

********

I can see Cassie's hands now as she rolls over, crossed and tied together behind her back, the rope going round and between them and a length of rope holding them into her back round her waist. Mum had tried to stop them from doing this, but she was already very well tied when they started, and she had to accept we were going to get tied up as well. Not as tightly as she was - although the rope around my tummy is very well secured between my arms and chest - but still we knew we weren't going anywhere.

After all, before long we had learned how to this to each other as well...

********

Anyway, over the next few months Cassie and I found new and different ways to be tied and to tie each other up. At first we had to use the skipping ropes and sponges, but over time we found new materials that we could use.

For example, in the following January Mum decided to get rid of the cotton sheets we had on our beds and buy new ones. She wanted to throw them out, but we persuaded her we could use them to cover our floors if we wanted to do painting, so she packed them into a bag and gave them to me to keep.

Well, I found some kitchen scissors and cut them into long strips, then pushed them back into the bag. The following Saturday found us in our bedroom, with Cassie lying on the bed while I tied her wrists together behind her back with one cloth strip, keeping it over the cuffs of her jumper, then her ankles over her jeans. For some reason, she really liked a cloth in her mouth, so I pushed one of Mum's handkerchiefs in, and used another strip between her teeth to hold it in place.

She lay there, twisting round for a few minutes, and then I untied her and allowed her to tie me as I sat on the floor. I put my hands behind my back, and let her tie them together. She never did it as tightly as I did to her, but I always pretended she did. Then she tied my ankles together, pushed a handkerchief into my mouth and then a strip of cloth.

Another time, Dad was getting rid of a load of old ties, so I rescued them from the recycling bag, and we used them for one adventure.

This went on for some months, but what we really wanted was to both be tied up at the same time. We couldn’t ask Mum or Dad to do that - they would have freaked. What we needed was someone who we could trust to do it and not tell our parents.

What we found was April, the girl who babysat from time to time.

In late March Mum and Dad were going to a dinner hosted by Dad's company, so they asked April if she would come down and look after us for the evening. She arrived at six, just as we were returning from our gymnastics club. The youth centre was within walking distance, and Mum trusted me to bring Cassie straight back.

As we came in, April was sitting in the front room, wearing a black t-shirt, denim shorts and dark footless tights. I was wearing a lime green leotard over a pair of white tights, while Cassie had on a black leotard over blue leggings. Both of us had thick socks and trainers on.

Mum looked in, as she fixed a pair of earrings in, and said April's in charge, so do as she tells you, all right? April, we'll be back by eleven - there's money for you to phone Pizza Hut for dinner.

She turned and walked out of the door with Dad, as April said Right - what do you want to eat, and then we can put a DVD on.

An hour later, the pizza boxes were on the floor as we sat on the floor either side of April on the couch, watching The Pacifier. When the scene when the family are held hostage came on, Cassie said I could get out of that, no problem.

Oh, April said quietly, What makes you so sure - they look fairly tight.

They’re not tight, Cassie said as she turned to look at her, Jenny ties me up tighter than that.

Cassie! I looked at her to show how angry I was, but April just laughed. So you tie her up, she said. Do you use ropes or cloths?

Both, I said without thinking, and then I looked at