The Very Thought of You
Chapter 25
"Ruby!" Charlie shouted as she ran through the door. "Ruby!"
"Ugh!" The two sisters collided.
"Hey! Where's the fire!" Ruby complained as she begun to pick up the old news papers which Charlie had knocked out of her hand.
"Ruby! Where's Joey?" She panted, trying but not succeeding to keep panic from her voice.
"I don't know! Perhaps she's gone out? Or maybe she's still in bed. I haven't seen her this morning." The young girl said, irritated, as she placed the papers onto the table.
Charlie rushed past her sister, bashing her arm on the door architrave as she went.
"Oow!" Ruby flinched, feeling the pain for her sister. "Did that hurt?" She grinned.
"Joey!" Charlie shouted, knocking at the bedroom door. "Joey!" Her heart racing. She turned the door knob.
The room was in total darkness. The curtains still closed blocking out any natural light. Charlie drew them back; a flood of light made her blink. She looked towards the bed. The bed was made. She looked around the room. There was no sign of Joey.
Charlie took a deep breath; her heart beating rapidly.
"What's going on, Charlie?" Asked an inquisitive Ruby, walking into the bedroom.
"She's not hear!" Charlie almost whispered. "Oh, Ruby!" Taking hold of her sister's arm.
"What's happened, Charlie?" Ruby said, this time with real concern.
"Ruby. I need to find Joey. If you see her, get word to me! Go to the station and get word to me, please!" Charlie pleaded, not bothering to hide her panic.
She gave her sister an urgent look as she squeezed the young girl's hand and hastily departed.
"Get in there, you little cow!" Robert Cruze hissed at Joey as he roughly pushed her into an old farm out-building, used for nothing now but a store place for the Children's Selvage Drives. (The young people were actively encouraged to collect paper, wood and anything else which could be put towards the war effort.)
Cruze pushed Joey onto the paper cover floor and flipped her onto her front, captured her arms behind and roughly tied them together with some rope. He stepped away from the bound girl and allowed her to turn and sit on the bottom.
"Well, nice of you to pop by for tea and cakes!" Cruzes sneered at Joey with a distasteful look on his face
"What do you want?" She asked her heart pounding with fright.
"Steady on, old love. Let's not rush this, huh? Let's take it nice and slow and enjoy it." Cruze said winking and running his had up and down Joey's bare arm. She moved her shoulder away from him in disgust.
"Don't be like that!" Cruze said, touching Joey's long hair, hanging over her shoulder. "You used to like me doing this." He said seductively.
"You're out of your mind!" Joey spat. "Get your hands off me!"
"Oh! Turning nasty, are we? Well, I can turn nasty too, you know?" Cruze replied pulling her hair.
Joey flinched but swallowed hard. Upsetting him might not be the most intelligent way of handling the situation.
"What do you want, Robert?" Her tone, more gentle.
"That's better." Cruze purred. "Now, I want to know why you told the Coppers that I hurt you?" He asked, innocently; a sweet smile playing on his lips.
Joey looked at Cruze in disbelief.
"But you did, Robert!"
"No. I'd never do that, especially to a pretty little girl like you." He said huskily, leaning in close and brushing his lips on her neck.
Joey felt her skin crawl and moved slightly to break the contact. Cruze started to move his hands over the young girl's body. Joey began to feel sick.
"Please, Robert!" She almost begged, "Leave me alone."
"But Joey! You enjoyed it so much before!"
Joey's panic turned to loathing.
"You took me by force before and you know it!" She spat the words in his face which, was uncomfortably close to hers.
He stood and walked a few paces away.
"That's the trouble with you girls. You invite a bloke then when he takes you up on it, you scream and panic and call it 'rape'. You know it was nothing like that!" Cruze said innocently, walking towards her again.
"I'd never let you touch me and you know why, Robert Cruze, apart from the fact that you're a big fat, ugly, bully!" She yelled losing her temper at last and trying to wiggle free from his renewed grip.
"Where are you going, you bitch!" He shouted, grabbing her by the arm and administering a stinging blow to her face.
"Charlotte!" Called Watson as Charlie arrived down at the harbour. "We have a witness, a Mrs. Bennett," Watson said, reading from her note book, "who says she heard screaming at about the time that Mr. Aden saw Cruze hanging about, but by the time she got to her front door, all she could see was that suit case and bags over there at the bus stop." Watson said, pointing to the luggage.
Charlie walked slowly up to luggage which, with a sinking heart, she'd already recognised as belonging to Joey. She crouched down biting her lip and running her finger along the seam of the case.
"Does the Sergeant know?" Charlie asked quietly, glancing at Watson.
Watson nodded.
"He's talking to the harbour master now. Charlotte, he couldn't have taken her too far away. He'd have been seen." She said, trying to comfort her friend.
"It was all my fault." Charlie said in a quiet voice.
Watson remained quiet, but frowned.
"We've got to find her, Georgie", she said standing and looking about her. "Would you check those sheds? I'm going up to Joey's home."
Robert Cruze found a dirty old cloth and tied it tightly around Joey's face, covering her mouth and making the corner of her lips sting with the gag.
"I'm not going down for you, you little slut! I'll see you in hell first!"
Cruze dragged Joey across the barn and tied a strong boat rope around her neck using a knot which tightened every time it was pulled. Joey tried to move away from the madman but felt the rope tighten. She remained still; her heart pounding.
"Get out of that one!" Cruze said, grinning at Joey and kicking her in the ribs for good measure.
Charlie knocked at the Collin's front door. No answer.
"Oh dear God, please..." Charlie pleaded.
"S'cuse me, Lady," came a little boy's voice from behind. "But me and me pals can't get into our shed up the road where we keep our selvage collection and there's a voice in there, too! They might be Germans soldiers!" The little boy suggested, with a grin of excitement.
Charlie was about to dismiss the little chap when a thought struck her. She took the young boy by the arm.
"Show me your barn, son." She said slowly.
Watson saw Charlie being led by the hand by a young boy, which, under normal circumstances, would have caused her some amusement. She decided to follow at a discreet distance.
Robert Cruze stood sadistically over Joey's body; kicked her once more; this time in her shoulder. Joey flinched but movement only tightened the rope which was already causing her breathing difficulties.
"That's it darling! You're going the right way to top ya self!" Cruze laughed.
Joey, now in despair of ever getting away from this man, hoped he would finish the job sooner than later. Visions of Charlie's face appeared before her eyes as she fought for oxygen. 'What was the point in living anyway?' she thought, remembering her sadness.
"There it is, Lady!" The little boy said, pointing to a shed about a hundred yards away.
It was indeed, a remote spot, a place where something or someone could be concealed easily and without causing too much interest.
"Okay. Now, what's your name?" Charlie asked not taking her eyes off the shed.
"Tommy!" The young boy replied, smiling.
"Tommy, go and stand by that tree. If you see me wave, run as fast as you can back down to the harbour and bring the Sergeant. Will you do that for me?" Charlie asked, urgently.
The boy nodded his head enthusiastically. Boy! What an adventure!
Charlie turned back to the shed and slowly walked up. Her mouth felt so dry that she couldn't even swallow. She put her ear to the door and heard the low voice of a man. Her heart pounded. She felt for her Police Truncheon and made it ready for use. She put her free hand to the door, praying the occupier hadn't wedged it from inside, and gently pushed. The door moved and thankfully without creaking. Charlie licked her lips and looked through the inch opening she had made. She saw Robert Cruze pulling at a rope attached to something on the shed floor.