|
"Laura's Dream" |
| Copyright Francis Blow, 1986. |
| CHAPTER 5 |
| Two police walked into the toilet, a man and a woman. Laura's startled expression quickly turned to one of relief. |
| "The stationmaster reported a man coming in here, miss," the policewoman said. "Have you seen anyone?" |
| "No one but me," Laura replied truthfully. "I guess I could look like a boy in the dark." |
| Laura could not make up her mind as to whether she should explain everything or not. Then the male officer decided for her. |
| "What are you doing in here at this hour, anyway?" |
| "Passing through. I thought I would clean up before I booked for the next train to Sydney." |
| The two officers exchanged glances. Laura had forgotten there was a search on for her. The woman asked Laura for her name. Laura shrugged and told them her story briefly. |
| "So I found out what kind of man Gordon Flint is, and now I'm going back home." |
| "In that case you won't mind coming with us and answering a few questions. The next train is due in the afternoon." |
| |
| Laura gave her statement in detail at the station, and later watched as Bob and his accomplice were brought in and charged. She was sitting in an office at the time, so neither man noticed her there. |
| Time dragged slowly, until seven o'clock. She used a pay phone to call her home. The phone rang four times, then: |
| "Daddy, it's me. I'm sorry I ran away, and I'm coming home tonight." |
| "Laura! Are you okay? Where are you?" |
| "I'm in Dubbo and I'm fine. I told the police what's going on and I'm just waiting for a lift to the train station. I'm really sorry to have worried you and Mum, but I had to see him." |
| "I'm just glad that you're all right sweetheart." |
| Laura spoke briefly to Carla, who was crying, then she said she had to go as she had run out of coins. There was a constriction in Laura's own throat; she had not realised how much she missed her real family. Home was still a long way away, though, and she had not eaten for almost a day and a half. The police sergeant detailed a constable to take Laura to the station, but she said not to bother, as she wanted to find somewhere to eat first. The police were kind enough to drive her to the shops, where Laura waited for a cafe to open. |
| Breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausages tasted unbelievably delicious, followed by tea and toast while she read a newspaper. |
| In her idle wandering, Laura inadvertently walked along a back street towards the office where Flint worked. She saw that his car was parked at the front. Angry at herself, Laura turned to cross the street to get away from Flint. As she spun away, she bumped into someone. |
| Bob stared at her for an instant. Her arms were grabbed from both sides. To her growing horror, not only was Bob and his accomplice free, but Flint was with them. |
| "So you're a girl!" Bob exclaimed. "Well you won't get away this time." |
| "Let me go!" Laura yelled, before a heavy hand was slapped over her mouth. |
| Bob pulled the backpack off her shoulders, and rummaged for her wallet. He took the money and threw everything else into the gutter. Laura stared in despair, helpless against the powerful grip that held her. Bob smiled at her, then punched her hard in the stomach. As she doubled over, another punch caught the top of her head. Laura would have fallen, except for the hands that held her up. |
| Vaguely, she heard voices discussing her, then she was dragged into the back of a car. Doors slammed and she was pushed onto the floor. Flint started the engine and drove. |
| "I've really had it with you!" He snarled at her. "Why didn't you go home like I told you?" |
| "I tried, but these guys kept chasing me. I was going to..." |
| "Shut your trap. Tie her up and gag her. She can join the others. I should've done that the first time I saw her." |
| Laura struggled against the two men, even though it was almost useless in the confines of the back floor. Adhesive tape bound her wrists, ankles and mouth, before she was eventually held down by their feet. There were twenty more minutes of mounting terror for Laura, as the car continued its journey. Visions of murder victims from newspaper photos filled her mind. Laura forced herself to think of escape. |
| There was no one to rescue her. Only the police knew who she was, other than the three kidnapers; and the police thought she was on her way home. She was gagged, so Laura could not talk her way out of her trouble. She was securely bound, preventing her from forcing her way out of the car. Aside from those problems, the two men, each heavier than Laura, were using her as a foot rest. To make matters worse, it was hard to breath through her nose only, especially after the struggle. Besides all that, Laura did not know where she was going. |
| Lying quietly, Laura tried to find something on the floor of the car to scrape off her taped bonds. Her first stroke of luck was having her hands close to the frame of the front seat. There was a hard edge close enough to rub the tape against. The bouncing of the car helped, though she had not quite finished when the vehicle stopped at their destination. |
| "Get her into the shed," Flint ordered, as he stepped out. "If we keep her reasonably intact, we should get a bonus for her." |
| The other two men grabbed her feet and shoulders, then threw her into a dilapidated building. The tape on her wrists parted as she slammed against the floor. The door was already closing, so no one saw that her hands were loose. Laura soon freed her feet and mouth, so she could search her gloomy prison. |
| Part of the galvanized iron wall was moveable, and Laura forced her way through, ignoring the many small cuts from nails and other sharp corners. She was out. |
| Laura circled the shed quietly, straining every sense to pick up a warning that her captors were coming back. Fortunately, she was undetected, as she crept and crawled through low scrub to the red Ford. |
| The three men were talking underneath a large tree, out of earshot, but the keys were still in the ignition where Flint had left them. She had her one chance and took it. |
| Silently, Laura slid behind the steering wheel and looked at the controls. They were a lot like those in her parents' car. Two pedals, a gear lever for the automatic gears, and a hand brake that was already off. |
| Gears first. The indicator was showing "P". It had to be in "R" to go backwards, but the lever would not move at first. A red button on the lever let her change to reverse. She said a fervent prayer, and tried the ignition key. Nothing happened. |
| Frightened, Laura peeked out of the window to see if she had been found out. Satisfied no one was looking at her, Laura tried to work out what she was doing wrong. She put the lever back into "P" and tried to remember how her parents normally started their car. |
| A noise outside caused Laura to look up. The men were walking towards a rusting water tank. She dropped out of sight and concentrated harder, trying to visualise each step her father took. |
| All at once, she remembered what to do. Her parents did not touch the gears until after the engine was going! Her right hand turned the key of its own accord, and the noise of the motor startled her. Flustered, Laura sat up and turned to look at the men, who were walking towards her and carrying cardboard boxes. They were much too close. |
| The three of them began sprinting towards Laura. |
| She wrenched the gear lever in panic, and looked over her shoulder at the track behind her. Then Laura pressed the accelerator. |
| The red car shot forward! |
| In her haste, Laura had put the gears into "D", and now the car was rocketing in the wrong direction, out of control. |
| Men and boxes went everywhere, as the car skidded at them. One box hit the front of the car, and packets of white powder exploded in all directions. |
| After traveling almost two hundred metres, Laura managed to stop the car in an open area, but the engine had stopped as well. Screaming at herself and the car, she struggled to restart it, while the men were racing closer. Gears into "P", turn the key, gears into "D", press gently on the accelerator. The car crept forward and she steered it around, so it faced the way she had come. |
| Laura pressed a little harder on the accelerator, and aimed at the men running down the track. Faster. Faster. |
| The men were almost on her. Would they try and jump onto the moving car? |
| She rocked the steering wheel, and the big car began swerving from side to side in response. Within seconds, Laura had got past the three men, and was out of immediate danger. She was barely in control of the powerful Ford, even though the speedometer never rose above thirty kilometres an hour. |
| After a deceptively short time, the narrow track joined a dirt road, and then the road became bitumen. There were no other vehicles or people around, so Laura kept driving, until she saw that the road was about to join a highway. She stopped the car near the intersection, and took the keys, then frantically flagged down another car. |
| A middle aged man stuck his head out of the other car's window. "What's up, miss?" |
| "I need to get to the police. Some men kidnaped me!" |
| "Are you okay? Do you want to see a doctor?" |
| "They didn't hurt me." She replied, her injuries forgotten in her anxiety to get away. |
| "Right, then. Hop in and I'll take you to my place. Me Missus'll fix you a cuppa, and we'll have the cops out in no time. The name's Henry Crane." |
| Mr. Crane's home was only a few kilometres out of the city, and the police responded quickly to Laura's phone call. She was still being interviewed, when a second team of detectives found the abandoned Ford. |
| |
| Laura was despondent. "They took all my money and I'll miss the train." |
| She could only think of getting home. |
| "Don't worry, Laura," One of the detectives assured her. "We'll make sure you get home this time, and you'll get your money back." |
| Mrs. Crane took Laura to a bedroom and told her to use the shower, while she found one of her old dresses, since Laura's clothing was stained and torn. |
| |
| Four hours later, feeling clean and well fed, Laura was helped into the Sydney train. She sat in a window seat, watched Dubbo receding, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep. |
| She slumbered most of the way home, and was still groggy when a train officer woke her at Strathfield. |
| "There was a call from the police on our radio. Your parents are waiting in the stationmaster's office." |
| "What? Here?" Laura started up, then hurried out of the carriage. She questioned a station attendant, and found the office. |
| John and Carla were there. |
| "Laura, what happened to your clothes?" Carla asked. |
| Laura had salvaged only her training shoes from her original clothing, other than that, all she wore was a dress that Mrs. Crane had given her; it was too large and plain, but it was clean. Everything else had been lost or so badly torn it had been thrown out. |
| "Mum! Dad! I'm so glad to see you," Laura grinned, then began to cry. "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me?" |
| Her father picked her up in a big hug. "You've done nothing that needs forgiveness, baby. Let's go home." |
