knew she would not be left alone waiting. She waited for ten minutes and there were now only two people in front of her when suddenly a van pulled up alongside them. The passenger wound down the window and leaning his head out greeted the four people behind her. Then he said, ‘get in, we’re going your way.’
Amid laughter and thanks the four people got in the van and it sped away leaving only Adela and the two people in front of her alone. Adela was slightly nervous now, when the next taxi came the couple in front would get in it leaving her there alone. She was in two minds to ask the couple if she could ride with them, but they might not be going her way and she hated the idea of putting them out. There would be many times later when she would question her reluctance to “put anyone out,” but also whether she would have had it any other way. Before she could decide what to do a taxi arrived, the couple got in and it pulled away leaving her alone.
A feeling of annoyance gripped Adela then, she thought the couple would let her have the taxi and waited for the next one since they had each other and she was a lone female. She would have done it for the girl.
Alberta swallowed her annoyance and waited, she checked her watch, 10.33. She looked back at the theatre, which was now in darkness, debating whether to lave the taxi rank and walk to the bus stop across the street. She had seen only one bus go her way in twenty minutes and she didn’t want to walk back to the bus stop in case a taxi came around the corner, the driver would see no one waiting and drive on.
She reached into her bag for her phone and switched it on. She had programmed some taxi numbers into her phone and thought about calling one. But what if a taxi came round the corner now while she was waiting? She would have to wave it on and maybe have to wait even longer for the one she had called. Oh, she was torn now, what was the best thing to do? Putting the phone back in her bag she took out the small alarm thing that Sally had given to her and that emitted a shrill alarm. She slipped her bag over her head in case anyone tried to snatch it, not that the flimsy strap would hold, and anyway, if anyone demanded it she would give it to them.
Shifting nervously from on foot to the other Adela now wished she had taken Eddie and Christine up on their offer of a lift home. Oh she was a fool, no wonder Mr. Lando had looked at her with such scorn, she had invited danger both this morning and tonight. Where was the common sense she was so famous for? This was a quite street with no houses, few shops and the theatre of course, and only a handful of cars had gone past as she stood there clutching the alarm tightly in her fist.
Just then the silence was broken by a scream which sounded very loud in the silence and made Adela jump almost out of her skin. For a moment she thought she had pressed the alarm by mistake but quickly realised the sound had come from an alleyway to her left. Her heart thumped uncomfortably fast as she looked wildly around trying to decipher where exactly the scream had come from when it came again, closer this time.
She fumbled in her bag for her phone and gripping the alarm walked towards the alleyway.
As she approached she heard scuffling noises and a man’s voice although she could not tell what he was saying from this distance. She peeped around the wall of the alleyway her heart beating ten times its normal rate. What she saw when she looked closer almost stopped it completely.
Two men had hold of a woman, the first with one hand over her mouth and another across her chest. A second man had her by her feet and they were dragging her towards a car parked at the other end of the alley. The woman was kicking and struggling for all she was worth. Adela heard the man say, ‘no use struggling, you’re caught now. We’re gonna take a little drive. He wants to see you.’
Suddenly the man holding her mouth let go and shook his hand
Amid laughter and thanks the four people got in the van and it sped away leaving only Adela and the two people in front of her alone. Adela was slightly nervous now, when the next taxi came the couple in front would get in it leaving her there alone. She was in two minds to ask the couple if she could ride with them, but they might not be going her way and she hated the idea of putting them out. There would be many times later when she would question her reluctance to “put anyone out,” but also whether she would have had it any other way. Before she could decide what to do a taxi arrived, the couple got in and it pulled away leaving her alone.
A feeling of annoyance gripped Adela then, she thought the couple would let her have the taxi and waited for the next one since they had each other and she was a lone female. She would have done it for the girl.
Alberta swallowed her annoyance and waited, she checked her watch, 10.33. She looked back at the theatre, which was now in darkness, debating whether to lave the taxi rank and walk to the bus stop across the street. She had seen only one bus go her way in twenty minutes and she didn’t want to walk back to the bus stop in case a taxi came around the corner, the driver would see no one waiting and drive on.
She reached into her bag for her phone and switched it on. She had programmed some taxi numbers into her phone and thought about calling one. But what if a taxi came round the corner now while she was waiting? She would have to wave it on and maybe have to wait even longer for the one she had called. Oh, she was torn now, what was the best thing to do? Putting the phone back in her bag she took out the small alarm thing that Sally had given to her and that emitted a shrill alarm. She slipped her bag over her head in case anyone tried to snatch it, not that the flimsy strap would hold, and anyway, if anyone demanded it she would give it to them.
Shifting nervously from on foot to the other Adela now wished she had taken Eddie and Christine up on their offer of a lift home. Oh she was a fool, no wonder Mr. Lando had looked at her with such scorn, she had invited danger both this morning and tonight. Where was the common sense she was so famous for? This was a quite street with no houses, few shops and the theatre of course, and only a handful of cars had gone past as she stood there clutching the alarm tightly in her fist.
Just then the silence was broken by a scream which sounded very loud in the silence and made Adela jump almost out of her skin. For a moment she thought she had pressed the alarm by mistake but quickly realised the sound had come from an alleyway to her left. Her heart thumped uncomfortably fast as she looked wildly around trying to decipher where exactly the scream had come from when it came again, closer this time.
She fumbled in her bag for her phone and gripping the alarm walked towards the alleyway.
As she approached she heard scuffling noises and a man’s voice although she could not tell what he was saying from this distance. She peeped around the wall of the alleyway her heart beating ten times its normal rate. What she saw when she looked closer almost stopped it completely.
Two men had hold of a woman, the first with one hand over her mouth and another across her chest. A second man had her by her feet and they were dragging her towards a car parked at the other end of the alley. The woman was kicking and struggling for all she was worth. Adela heard the man say, ‘no use struggling, you’re caught now. We’re gonna take a little drive. He wants to see you.’
Suddenly the man holding her mouth let go and shook his hand
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