by Carl Andrew
What was that? She thought to herself. There was a tapping sound, like footsteps.
She tried to recall whether she heard two sets of footsteps heading towards the car, whether both of her captors had left at the same time.
Was there still one of the guys standing over me? She considered.
“Hello… Who’s there?” she asked, into what could quite easily have been an abyss for all she knew.
Another sound, closer this time…
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Bolton, Lancashire
Leon went down to the kitchen and made a cup of tea before reading through his email. He tried to keep himself occupied, to busy his mind.
He checked his watch almost as each second passed and when ten minutes was up, he hit redial on his phone.
Vanessa saw the number and answered.
“Leon, I have some news,” she said.
Her tone was indifferent but Leon felt a sense of relief without really knowing why.
“They have a description of a girl matching Sarah who has just been found by police in Hatfield.”
When he heard the way Vanessa phrased what she’d just said, his heart sank.
Have a description of a girl matching Sarah who has just been found, what the hell does that mean? He thought to himself.
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A little earlier, Somewhere in London
The footsteps were getting closer now. The sound was distinct. Sarah knew her mind wasn’t playing tricks on her.
“Hello, is anybody there?” She called out.
No response.
Tap, tap. Leather soled shoes on the hard pavement, one, two, one, two.
“Please, don’t hurt me. Please, I need help.” She called out.
Then she heard a strange sound, static from a radio. She felt something pulling at her blindfold. Suddenly, there was light, she could see.
“Are you ok?” came three words she thought she would never hear again.
She turned around and looked into the face of a Policeman. She scanned the area and saw she was at the end of an alleyway next to some train tracks.
“Why didn’t you answer me when I called out?” She asked.
“I had to be sure it wasn’t a trap, that you weren’t being watched. The alleyway wasn’t visible from where I was. I had to be careful not to make myself known. I’m sorry.” He replied.
All Sarah could say was: “Thank you.” She began to weep but was uncertain of what emotion this act was supporting, happiness, sadness, elation, fear… or perhaps a bit of everything.
She was safe.
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Bolton, Lancashire
Leon regained his focus and knew the question he had to ask but didn’t necessarily know if he wanted the answer:
“Is… is she ok?”
“She’s fine Leon, a bit shaken, but fine. She’ll be on her way back to Huntingdon in a few hours once she’s been checked over by the medical team,” Vanessa said, realising she could have phrased her original statement better.
“That’s great. That’s really great. Thank you so much for finding out for me. Do they know what happened?” he asked.
“She was quite vague when they asked her Leon. From what she said, she could have been taken by a criminal gang who were after information about her. They wanted to find out who she was and where she came from,” Vanessa said, providing as little detail as she could get away with.
“We did a bit of investigating into the activist group she was connected with after the break in at Dr Hopwood’s house. It turns out that the group leader, a guy called Sebastian, has been involved in a range of illegal activity. He’s not well liked in criminal circles and that could have something to do with it,” she concluded.
“But why grab Sarah and then just let her go?” the journalist in Leon came out with his line of questioning.
“I don’t know. Perhaps they were after another member of the group, someone closer to Sebastian, a girlfriend maybe. Sarah was just the wrong person and as soon as they found that out, they let her go. But I’m purely speculating.”
“Yeah, maybe. It still sounds so unlikely but I guess it’s too early to know why this happened. I’m just glad you managed to find her,” he said.
“Hey, I was just lucky. I called at the right time. The sergeant at Huntingdon Police Stations was just about to let you know when I called. I told him I’d tell you.”
“Thank you anyway,” he said.
“I’m just glad she’s ok,” said Vanessa. She was in full character. She couldn’t let Leon know that she had anything to do with this so she was desperately trying to pretend she knew nothing of what happened.
“I should get going,” Leon said. “Thank you again Vanessa. I really appreciate your help.”
“My pleasure.” Vanessa put the phone down, drew a deep breath and slumped down into her chair. Had she just dodged a potential bullet? She wasn’t sure. He appeared to buy it, she thought to herself.
Leon immediately opened his laptop. He realised he didn’t have Sarah’s phone number so the only contact he had was email. It was so frustrating.
He just wanted to call her, to tell her he was so happy she was ok. But he couldn’t. He had to rely on email which, depending on the state she was in, could take an hour or a number of days before it was checked.
He felt helpless but had to hope she saw his note. He started typing and then retyping a simple message that he wanted so desperately to perfect. On his fourth attempt, he was satisfied with his prose:
Sarah
I hope you don’t mind me emailing you. I saw what happened and wrote about it in a blog post to try and help to find you. I heard you were safe and want to speak to you to see if you’re ok.
Can we meet again or could you give me your mobile number?
Speak soon,
Leon
It was short and to the point. He feared showing his true feelings to her in case she rejected him so felt that less was more in terms of the content.
In the interest of sticking to his morals of seeing a story through to the end, he opened a new blog post and let the words flow from his mind.
Activist found but questions remain over disappearance
Sarah Jenkins has been found safe after being released by her captors today. However, Police and still unsure why she was taken in the first place and are currently following up leads.
Thanks are due to those people who read the previous blog post and provided information to the police. No matter how insignificant, you all helped in finding Sarah.
We’ll provide an update to this story if or when any further information becomes available.
In conclusion, people disappearing on public streets, is a worrying escalation of the anti-social behaviour that grips this country. I can only hope this is an isolated incident.
Prime Minister Lawson, Minister Brooks, over to you.
He read his post and clicked to publish it. Short and sweet but he knew from a great deal of experience that a story can only be as long as the information available. If you try and stretch it out, you risk embellishment and that can only serve to mislead the audience.
He clicked out of his blog and opened his email to check his messages. His eyes immediately went to a familiar name.
Sarah had responded to him. He fumbled his way to opening it, his excitement winning the battle against muscle memory, forcing the clumsiness.
His heart was beating, he felt like a schoolboy. He waited what felt like an age for the email to open. Why is it that whenever you want something to happen quickly, it always seems to take longer, he thought to himself.
Finally, words appeared on a page. The most important thing to appear though was her number. He picked his phone up and started dialling, then paused.
He checked the time of the email. It was sent a minute ago. I
f he called her now, how desperate would he look?
He still wanted to play the bravado card and not reveal his emotions too quickly. He decided to give it ten minutes.
He could almost see the comedy of his situation, standing around waiting for a pre-planned amount of time to pass before making a phone call in case the recipient got the wrong impression.
Eventually, he relented and dialled.
“Hello, this is Sarah.”
“Sarah, its Leon. Are you ok?”
“I was hoping it would be you,” she said. Leon let the words trickle over him like a warm shower. She was hoping it would be me… his thoughts repeated each word as she spoke.
“I’m fine. A bit shaken but fine nonetheless,” she concluded.
“Good to hear. When did you get home?”
“About 20 minutes ago. It’s all been a bit of a blur but I have to admit I was terrified to come back to Huntingdon. I mean, they found me walking along a road in the town centre. Who’s to say they don’t know where I live. The thought scares me,” she said.
At that point, her voice and the words she was saying made her sound so vulnerable to Leon. If she was speaking to him face to face, he would have struggled not to cuddle her.
“So, what are you going to do? Have you got any family to move in with?” He said, thinking of his own situation.
“Not exactly, I’m honestly not sure. I might just have to live with it,” she said.
“There’s got to be another option Sarah, surely.”
“Unless you’re offering for me to move in with you then I can’t really see one at the moment,” she joked.
Leon thought for a moment. Is it such a crazy idea? He knew she was joking but he had his flat in London. He could sleep on the sofa and she could have his room.
He needed a reason to get back there anyway. He couldn’t stay at his parents forever. He needed to get back to his old life.
“Leon I was joking,” Sarah said, concerned she might have freaked him out.
“But… but what if it wasn’t a joke?” Leon said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I have an apartment in London. It’s small but it could work. I mean is it really out of the question?” he said.
“What? Me move in with you? But, we’ve only just met. I mean, how… how would it work?”
“I know, I know… perhaps I wasn’t thinking things through. Maybe you’re right,” Leon was feeling a little dejected. He was initially excited about the prospect but he had to be realistic.
What followed was silence, for a few moments at least while both collected their thoughts and decided on the best thing to say next.
“I suppose you’re not a bad person,” Sarah said.
“I suppose I’m not,” reciprocated Leon.
“I mean, I’ve never had a chance to live in London before,” Sarah went on.
“It is a great city.” Leon replied.
“I don’t have much money,” admitted Sarah.
“I’m not asking for any.”
“And… and you wouldn’t mind?”
Leon paused for a moment. He needed to clarify his feelings for her to make sure this was the right thing to do.
“Sarah, I need you to know I’m… I’m attracted to you,” he said with uncertainty.
Sarah smiled to herself. “Thank God,” she said. “It would have been weird otherwise.”
The rollercoaster ride of a conversation had taken a turn upwards again. Leon was gobsmacked. He’d just agreed to let a girl he was deeply attracted to, move in with him and she now knew how he felt about her.
Sarah felt her stomach rumble, she was feeling excited and nervous at the same time. This was a huge step for her after being so hurt by her previous relationship.
But for some reason, this felt right. Leon felt right. She thought to herself.
“So, what’s the next step?” she asked concerned she would lose confidence if she didn’t maintain the momentum, afraid that he would get back to his senses if she didn’t push.
“I’ll come to help you with your stuff and then we can get the train to London together.”
“That sounds great. Leon, thank you. I really appreciate what you’re doing for me,” she said, gratefully.
“By the way,” she followed up, “Where in London am I going to be living?” In her mind she thought of all the famous London landmarks and it excited her, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, and Camden Lock. Places she’d be near to.
“Finsbury Park,” he replied.
“Oh,” She said.
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The next day, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
On the train down to Huntingdon, Leon thought back to the difficult conversation he’d had with his parents and brother about moving back to London.
They were worried about him after the attack but they knew he was very single minded when he wanted to be. Their only, absolute request was that he take care and try to avoid trouble.
For Leon, it was like the situation with Sarah was ideally timed. In reality, he needed to get back to London. He needed normality and routine. He needed to face his demons.
The train pulled into Huntingdon Station and Leon grabbed his bags to exit. He couldn’t believe how little he’d brought with him to his parents. It was as if subconsciously he never intended for it to be a long stay.
Sarah was waiting for him outside the station. Her greeting was a welcome one coupled with a tinge of awkwardness. After all, this was only the second time they had met in person.
That truism was still unbelievable to Leon. Here was this girl who he was about to move in with and they had only met once before.
He thought of movie scenarios where the couple fall in love at first sight. He never really bought into that way of thinking but he had to admit that something between them had just clicked at that first meeting.
He embraced her a second time and realised that they still hadn’t kissed. He was moving in with someone he’d never kissed. That’s got to be weird right? He thought.
She broke the silence with a comment that stunned him:
“Do you think it’s weird that we’re moving in together and we haven’t even kissed?”
It was an impulsive comment filled with emotion but after what she’d been through, she needed to let herself go.
“Are you a mind reader?” was the only response Leon could think of.
“Come again?” she said.
“I was just thinking that very same thing. It almost feels like we’ve skipped a step,” he replied.
“Well, we should put that right,” Sarah stated looking into Leon’s eyes and closing the gap between them.
Her lips met his and he felt like he was in another world. His heart was beating fast and he was sure she could feel it as their bodies touched.
He was embarrassed momentarily. She could sense that and she gripped him tighter. That settled his nerves. The feeling of kissing her was better than he had imagined.
He’d spent many hours imagining this moment over the last few days but didn’t dare dream that it would ever be upon them.
Yet, here he was, second meeting, kissing and about to start a life living together.
He didn’t want it to stop but eventually it did, naturally. She turned to him and said: “We should go. I’ve packed but I’m too excited now to see where the next chapter of my life is going to be and I just want it to happen.”
“Funny that,” he said. “When I told you on the phone that I lived in Finsbury Park I distinctly remember you responding with a disappointed ‘oh’,” he said, enquiringly.
Sarah giggled. “Yep but that was before I realised how close it was to Camden. Also, where I live doesn’t matter as much as who I live with.”
Leon smiled, grabbed hold of her hand, which was the boldest thing he’d done since they’d met for the second time, and they walked off in the direction of her home.
&nb
sp; When they arrived, Leon surveyed the ‘squat’ and looked at Sarah inquisitively.
“What?” she said.
“And you gave a disappointed ‘oh’ to Finsbury Park,” he said, in jest.
She gave him a friendly nudge and they got on with ‘operation move Sarah’.
Sarah’s possessions were strewn all over the place and getting to the flat in Finsbury Park seemed a million miles away from where they were now.
“I thought you said you’d packed,” he said. She gave him another nudge.
However, before long, they were retracing their steps back to Huntingdon Train Station, laden down with her possessions and his bag.
When they were finally on the train bound for London, Leon allowed himself to relax.
The beauty of living in Finsbury Park was that it was an over ground station as well as an underground one so the train they took from Huntingdon stopped there en route to Kings Cross. It made it so much easier.
They talked about each other’s lives eager to get to know one another although she was a little cagey about the details of her family. Leon figured she’d let him know more in time.
He wanted desperately to ask about what happened when she was kidnapped but he felt it wasn’t the right time for something so delicate and the train probably wasn’t the right environment for that discussion.
He did stray on to another topic that he was uncertain about, however. He wanted to find out her intentions around her activist interests but wasn’t sure whether he should.
In fairness, it was Sarah who prompted him. He didn’t realise it but he was staring at her and out of curiosity she said:
“What is it Leon? There’s something you want to say, isn’t there?”
“I guess,” he said, still non-committal.
“Well, if it’s about what happened to me yesterday, can we leave that for this evening? I think I’ll need alcohol to help with that one,” she said.
“No, it’s not about that but thanks for letting me know where you’re at. It had been on my mind. I’ll get a bottle of wine handy when we get back… err home,” he replied. “I actually wanted to ask about something else.”
