Kidnapped

Chapter 3 - Thief

You woke up with a start, as the realisation dawned on you. You were no longer at home. You'd been kidnapped by Dutch Van Der Linde and his gang.

You slipped of the bed, and tiptoed over to the window.

The sun had only just risen, giving everything a red glow.

Gazing out the window you were amazed and a little distraught that you were slap bang in the middle of a forest and a swamp.

Your life in St. Denis had been one of luxury. You'd never set foot out of the city.

You gasped with amazement, when you saw a deer in the woods. You'd never seen a deer before, except in books, and in the picture house.

You thought about what Dutch had said last night;

"A pretty girl like you, could have any man she wanted. You shouldn't be marrying a sour old weasel like Leviticus Cornwall!"

Why didn't you just go, there was a whole new world out there. One that you hadn't seen, being stuck in the city, and cosseted by your father. A father who didn't really love you.

You looked out the window again, freedom was just waiting for you. Besides, in a few days time who knows what would happen. When you asked if he was going to kill your daddy, he didn't answer. He changed the subject. You guessed you should have asked if he was going to kill you!

You looked around the room, and saw a large bag at the foot of the bed. You crept back over to the bed, and opened the bag. You recognised it from last night, one of Dutch's men had been told to get your clothes.

You delved into the bag, and pulled out some underwear, and a dress. Glancing quickly round, to make sure there was no chance of anyone bursting in, you quickly took off your nightdress, and put on underwear, and the dress. You delved in the bag, looking for some shoes, which you found in the bottom. You slipped them on and crept to the door.

You opened the door a crack, and peered into the room. It was empty.

When you entered the room, you glanced around. You weren't stupid, if you were going to make it on your own, you would really need some money. You saw a tiny chest, on a desk. You heart started to hammer in your chest. You'd never stolen anything before. You'd snuck out of your home before, but not taken anything that wasn't yours.

You walked over and opened the small chest. Inside there was money, and lots of it. You looked around, not sure whether to take it all, or just some of it. You decided to take just some. You figured that if you did get caught, the less you had, the less trouble you might be in. Not that you were intending to get caught, but you never knew. You counted out fifty dollars, and closed the lid. With a bit of luck they wouldn't even notice any was gone.

You shoved the money down the front of your dress. On one of the occasions you'd snuck out, you'd seen a street woman do that. You wondered why, but you guessed it was because she didn't have a purse.

You crept to the other set of doors, you listened, but didn't hear anything, so you opened one of the doors. Peering through the crack, you saw the hallway empty. The stairs were right outside the door.

You looked over the stair rail, it seemed quiet, so you crept down the stairs.

You didn't want to risk the front door, so you crept through the house. There were a couple of people asleep in one of the rooms. You were surprised, as they were women. You thought outlaw gangs only had men. Well that's what you had read. Unless they were street workers from St. Denis. You knew from the city, that you weren't supposed to go out at night. Only ladies of the night roamed the streets of St. Denis after dark.