Barb woke from a blissful dream of walking down the aisle to marry George Clooney, when she heard a loud noise.
Thud
There it was again. She was wide awake now. She looked at the clock on the bedside table. 3:15am glared back at her.
Maybe it was the cat. No, the cat wasn’t here. She sighed and turned on the bedside lamp and reached for her robe. As she tied her robe and padded to the bedroom door, she thought she heard voices nearing.
There’s someone in the house, she thought. She waited, looking around to see what she could use to defend herself. She saw her phone, then remembered she hadn’t recharged it, and the signal here wasn’t that great anyway. Doors slam loudly from downstairs. The stairs creek, like footsteps coming towards her. She spies an umbrella from behind the door, and grabs that to use as a weapon.
“Get out!” She yelled. “The Police are on their way!”
“Are you Barb?” A tall man, dressed in black, complete with balaclava, asked.
“Yes, but – “
“No buts!” He pushed her into a nearby chair. Aiming his gun at her, he said, “Open the safe!”
“I don’t -“
“What’s the hold up, Shorty?” A gruff voice nears, also dressed in black, with a balaclava, carrying a gun.
“She won’t open the safe.” Shorty replied.
“Now, I don’t like to hit a woman,” The other man warned, as he neared. “But, I will if I have to. Now, open the safe, and you’ll be okay.”
“As I tried to explain to your – friend here – I’m not -“
“Lady, I don’t care!” The other man sighed.
“Monty said it’s behind the picture of the flower.” Shorty said, looking around the room. “There.” He waved his gun.
“Over the bed. That’s it!” He rushed over and threw the painting on the floor, jumped on the bed, and tried to open the
safe. “Hey! Will you look at that!”
“What? Stop mucking about, and help me tie her up, will you?”
Shorty sighed, jumped off the bed and looked around to find something. He picked up a scarf from the dresser. “This should do!”
In a moment, the other man had tied Barb’s hands together. “Get me another couple!” He yelled at Shorty.
Another moment passed, and her ankles were tied together. “Sorry lady.” He said, before tying the last scarf across her mouth, ignoring her cries of protest.
Shorty jumped onto the bed again, and opened the safe. “Ta Da! It wasn’t even locked! Naughty! Naughty!” He took a bag from his pocket and filled it with the jewels inside, then slammed the safe shut when he was done.
“Let’s get out of here!” The other man said to Shorty, who ran off downstairs. He looked at Barb. “You say nothing, and you will live!” Then he too was gone.
Ten minutes later, as Shorty drove them further away, the other man made a call. “Hey, Boss, job done at 27 Swenson.”
“It was 37 Swenson, you fool!” His Boss roared so loudly down the phone, that Shorty laughed.
“What? We got the wrong house?” The other guy yelled at his Boss. “But she said her name was BarB!”
“Fix it!” His Boss yelled, then rang off.
Shorty was still laughing, he almost hit a stray dog crossing the road. “Sorry, Doggy!” He called. “What are we gonna’
do now?” He asked.
“Shut up and let me think!” The other guy said. “Okay, so, we’ve been at your Gran’s house in Stokedale all night. All
weekend in fact.”
“But, my Gran lives in Fernlea.” Shorty corrected him.
“Doesn’t matter! That’s where we’ve been. And that’s what we tell anyone who asks.” He ordered. “Right?”
“Okay.” Shorty agreed, and kept driving.
News reports the next day said there had been an aggravated burglary at 27 Swenson Street. The owners were not home,
but a house sitter, who shared a name with one of the owners was. She was not seriously hurt, and was assisting Police
with their inquiries. The two men were still on the run, at the time of the news report.
