Milly was supposed to be home by now, but instead she was in the car of a total stranger, who was threatening to hold her captive. Her father would be getting worried now – she had ‘phoned him earlier to let him know that she was on her way – and he would ring all her friends to find out where she was. Finally her mother, alarmed, would ring the police with the shocking news.
She knew, with a sinking heart, that she was not going to be released without a fight. She had not seen the man’s face, but she imagined that he had greasy, dark hair and shifty eyes. Suddenly a thought came to her mind. “What if the man was one of those serial killers, who went round finding young girls to murder horrifically?” She strained her neck around to the car door and noticed that she would not be able to escape because the door was locked.
The journey had been long and exhausting, especially as she had been forced into such an uncomfortable position with the bindings cutting into her ankles and wrists. Finally the car came to an abrupt halt and Milly was thrown forwards, off the seat. The man and his accomplice, who she noticed for the first time, looked very uncomfortable, heaved her out of the car and stood her up on the ground. Milly looked around; in the middle of the barren landscape was a river, which the man led her towards. The accomplice followed a little way behind, carrying her bag. As they reached the edge of the river, the man roughly untied her and stood back to glared at her.
“If you try and run for it, I’ll only phone my back-ups. They’ll find you easily and bring you straight back here, so I wouldn’t bother, if I were you,” said the man, flexing his muscles. Milly noticed a London accent and remembered that the police had said to watch out for a tall, dark man from London. “Barnaby’s gonna ditch your belongings, so that the police find it difficult to trace you”.
Milly watched, as Barnaby removed the contents of her bag and hid her belongings one by one under the rocks in the water. The men laughed at her when her eyes opened wide as the accomplice hid her prized mobile telephone, with its special cover displaying her name. Barnaby laughed, a high, cold, evil laugh, that set Milly’s spine tingling.
“Now get back in the car,” ordered the first man, “before my nerve gets the better of me”.
“Max, I’m gonna get the hell outta here – I don’t wanna be here when the cops come looking.” He started sprinting off down the towpath, trying to escape from the scene of the crime as quickly as he could.
“Police?” cried Milly, speaking for the first time since her capture. Her voice was high and rough and her throat felt dry and burning.
“Well we’re not just gonna let you escape now we’ve got you for ourselves, are we now?” leered Max, with an insane smile.
“Why are you doing this to me?” she asked, her voice raw and on edge.
“I’ve noticed you walking home from school. I need something to satisfy my hunger – you looked just the girl. The last death was in 1988, the year you were born in - it’s been a long time. Oh,” he said, looking at her, “you’re wondering why I know so much about you? I have connections, you know. People you wouldn’t like to meet”.
Milly was frozen in horror. The man was going to kill her. All she could think was that she had not said goodbye to her mother. Max started dragging Milly back to the car, but her screams were muffled by the gag that had been roughly replaced.
When the car arrived at the next venue, she staggered out and was led to an old barn. They were in the middle of nowhere. There were poppies as far as the eye could see, and the scene would have been quite perfect, had she been there in a completely different situation. The barn looked very old, and as she stepped through the doors, she recognised the smell of rotting wood from the roof. There was hay covering the floor and mould camouflaging the walls.
“This is where you’ll be spending the rest of your days, kid”, sneered Max.
“What are you going to do to me?” whispered Milly, startled.
“You’ll find out soon enough. You’re going to come to the same sticky end as all those before you. You know what happened to them, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” she cried, in a shrill, piercing voice. “Let me go!”
“Look, you’re one small kid against one big guy. I think I know which one would come off better. Just do what I say or you’ll be finished before you know it.”
Max darted out of the door and Milly heard a key turn in the lock. She sprawled on the floor of the barn and felt tears welling up in her eyes, but she felt too stunned to cry. Too many emotions were running through her head, but she knew one thing for sure – she needed to get out. She was trembling with fear and dazed with pain.
Milly was locked in that barn for three months and fifteen days. Max visited her every day, taunting her with different punishments. He brought her food, but she was constantly hungry. The nights were cold in that wooden barn, because she was only wearing her school uniform - a skirt, blouse and thin jumper. They long, too, so she much time to contemplate over her family and friends back home, in their warm, comforting houses. She knew her mother would be desperately ‘phoning her mobile, but to no avail. Her sister would be desperately waiting for her to return, trying to keep positive and her father would look at the harsh reality; she was probably dead by now.
Many a time had Milly tried to break open the lock on the door but the bolt was too strong for her weak hands. She spent the night huddling in the hay to find warmth, but her energy was rapidly ebbing away, just as Max had hoped it would, so she would stop trying to escape and his work would be made easier at the end of it all.
One morning, Milly had been peering through a crack in the door, when Max appeared announcing her three months in the barn.
“So, miss Milly, three months, eh? How much longer d’you reckon you’re gonna last?” he tormented. Milly sat, hunched on the ground. “I thought I’d start counting down your days left. How about one month more? That’ll give you some time to say your prayers and send ‘goodbyes’ to your family.” He drifted out of the room, with one last knowing look at Milly. Milly felt angry. She wanted revenge on the man that had kept her locked away for three months; with no contact with the ones she loved.
Later that evening, Max returned, with his face gaunt, walking with a swagger. He appeared drunk.
“Now,” he smirked, “we’re gonna write a little letter to your mummy and daddy.” He removed a pad of paper and a pen from his inside pocket. “Here,” he said, handing over the paper. “I’m gonna dictate to you what I want you to write and if you don’t do what I say, that day will be brought forward.” Max recited a horrific letter to Milly and she no choice, but to obey.
“Read it to me,” said Max, narrowing his eyes.
“Dear Mum and Dad, I have not been harmed in any way, but I shall not be returning home.” She faltered as tears were brimming in her eyes. “Although I shall never see you again, you will both remain in my heart, forever. God bless, Milly”. She stumbled over the words and then looked up at Max.
“It says I’m not going to be harmed in any way.”
“Oh, you won’t feel a thing. Don’t you worry. One more month, then,” he whispered, leaving the barn.
Milly came to a final decision. This was her last chance to escape, because her time was running out. She had checked the walls at least one hundred times for any signs of a secret entrance and still found nothing. Suddenly, she heard the sounds of a bird cheeping and she realised it had come from inside the room, behind the bales of hay. She clambered into the hay and fought her way to the back wall of the barn. Digging down through the hay, she discovered the bird and a small window close to the ground that had obviously once been used to deliver food to the animals inside the barn. She felt irritated that she had never thought to look for this before, but Max could have been back any minute so she scrambled through the opening onto a stone courtyard. The first thing that came into her head was to run, so she sprinted away from the barn, not taking any notice of where she was going. Milly had no idea where she was, so she continued running until she saw a bus stop. Looking on the sign she realised that she was about a half an hour’s drive to her house. She had no money, so she could not take the bus, but she decided to follow the bus’ route until the next bus stop and use the signposts for directions.
It was a chilly, summer’s evening and the moon was just peeping out from behind the clouds as Milly reached the street where she lived. Anticipation was building up inside her as she reached her own front door that she had not seen for so long. She waited to hear the familiar sounds of thumping as her mother ran down the stairs calling “one minute”!
She recognised the figure through the misted glass. The door creaked open and her mother’s head appeared. Her eyes grew wide in amazement and she shouted “She’s home! She’s come back! Gemma! Bob!” Milly was drawn into a tight hug and when her sister and father joined, cries of joy came from all around.
Her mother was crying and her father kept glancing at her, as if to check she was still there. For the first time in three months, Milly felt relaxed and peaceful. After three months of her family fretting, they could get back into a normal routine at last. Never again would Milly be apart from her family, and it was only then that she appreciated the importance of support, friendship and company. Finally she was back where she belonged.
Becky Ritchie
