Snatched

Note from author: I'm thrilled with the comments for this story, but they do contain spoilers, so avoid them to get the full impact. Enjoy.

Three days after my sixth birthday I was abducted. He grabbed me from behind as I waited by the gates of the big school for my brother. There was no time to scream as I was flung into the boot of his car. The lid slammed shut and he sped off, throwing me round the small space like a ball in a blacked out pin–ball machine. As the car settled into a cruise my body steadied. I had no idea what was happening, or why? My bowels opened; I remember feeling ashamed that I’d soiled myself – which of course was nothing compared to the indignities that awaited.

A mistake had been made – surely? As soon as the man opens the boot he’ll see I’m not his little lad and take me home. My tiny mind turned over as I lay in my own mess. Why was I in the boot? Mammy will be furious with him when she finds out. My big brother will be mad with me for making him miss Scooby Doo. I looked forward to Mammy giving me a nice warm bath when I got home. She wouldn’t scold me for soiling myself; she’ll understand I was frightened, she knows I don’t like the dark. Daddy will tease me for being a silly boy and not kicking the man. I’ll try extra hard to beat my brother in a race tomorrow, just to show him that I’m not a weakling. Then the car slowed and stopped. Thank God I thought – at last. 

The lid flew up – light blinded me – OH MY GOD – he smacked my face and called me a horrible name. I went dizzy. He kept shouting at me, “You’ve ruined my boot!” I rolled into a protective ball. He hurled me out, my leg making a strange sound as it hit the gravel path; I tried to run but couldn’t. Nobody had ever been nasty to me; everybody loved me.  I tried to tell him I was sorry for messing myself – he wouldn’t listen. I was scared. I wanted Mammy.

The last thing I remember of that day is his hand coming toward my head as I cowered on the floor, then all went blank. When I woke I thought I’d had a horrible dream, but it was all too real.

I was in a shed like building, a rope coiled round my neck, secured to a hook embedded in the concrete floor. I tried to untie it, but the more I tried, the tighter it became. I’d been unconscious for hours; Rosie, the girl also tethered to the hook told me when I eventually stopped crying.

She’d been snatched while she sunbathed in her front garden. She told me not to cry or talk to the man as it makes him angry.  Just do as he says, it makes it easier, she said. I was thirsty, but she said I would have to wait until morning when he comes with food and milk. When I asked why he’d taken us, she went quiet, told me to try and sleep and remember to be as good as gold in the morning.

I was awake as the rising sunlight filtered through a small gap in the shed door. A big metal vice like thing stood against the back wall, a circular saw leaning against it. My leg swelled during the night, I couldn’t stand. The saw frightened me, didn’t like being so close to its dangers and not able to run away. Then I heard a door open somewhere outside. Rosie remained asleep. I looked under the gap and saw a pair of wellington boots coming towards us. I pretended to sleep. 

The door opened with a loud scratch, which startled Rosie awake. He looked at my leg, said it was a bad sprain, that I would have to rest it for a few days before I’m of any use. He gave us milk, bread and butter with a kind of meat paste. When Rosie finished he took her outside, I saw resignation in her eyes. He bolted the door. I didn’t like being on my own; I didn’t know if I would ever see Rosie again. All I could do was wait and wonder.

Hours later he brought her back, tied her up, and left again. She cried softly. I asked where she’d been, but she said she didn’t want to talk about it.

Rosie was seven, but seemed so much older than me. She stopped crying and said we had to get away. When my leg gets better we’ll make a plan to get home. She told me all about her big sisters and how they used to love dressing her up. We had a giggle – believe it or not.