The Escape

On further interrogation she revealed that something had happened to the engine but she did not understand what. Questioning switched to Bob and he explained that the engine had dropped a cylinder the second that he was about to park. He went on to say that he had removed and stripped the engine and was in the process of re-grinding the pistons but then the heavy snow came.

"You mean that you were fixing it - you know how," Aldo interrupted.

"Yes - engines are my hobby. It was just a matter of doing the last two pistons, balancing and then putting the engine back in the vehicle."

"Could you still finish it?"

Bob shook his head. "It should be a two man job but I could have managed by myself in an emergency but this knackered leg makes it impossible."

I suddenly saw that leaving together in a vehicle with hostages offered more hope. You see, I was pretty certain that if the three of us set out together on foot there would be three bodies left behind in the cabin. "I know my way round an engine - I used to tinker with a sports car when I was a kid," I volunteered.

It was decided on the spot that Bob and I would attempt to get the car back into working order. Aldo carried Bob to the workshop with me following and left him on the floor. Soon after he departed, Rick pushed a snivelling Lucy through the door saying, "Aldo and I are planning to have some fun while you're busy and we don't want her getting in the way."

I got Bob wedged standing on one leg by the workbench to work on the two pistons and then, with nothing to do for the moment, I explored the building with Lucy trailing after me. The whole building was crammed with all kinds of junk. There where lengths of wood, netting, various metal items and a collection of old sports equipment, most of it rusted or falling to bits. Along one wall stood a couple of large wooden packing cases that I was about to investigate when I spotted some stairs leading to a lot. "What is all this stuff," I called out to Bob as I headed towards the upstairs."

"God knows, it came with the place," he shouted back. "I believe that the previous owner was a sports freak amongst other things. I poked about a bit when we first came but it seems to be all rubbish."

In the upper section, amongst a similar miscellany, I found a box of dusty children's toys and something which intrigued me greatly. It seemed like some kind of weapon because I identified a trigger and what could be a sort of barrel. Carrying it down to Bob I asked, "Have you any idea what this is?"

"Looks like a harpoon gun," he said.

My mind was whirring. "Are there any harpoons?" I asked hopefully.

"There used to be plenty but I cannibalised them to make a barbecue pit in the summer. I think that there is one left stuck in the rack over there."

I retrieved the barbed length of metal and felt a flush of satisfaction as it slotted neatly into place. "Bob was smiling at me and shaking his head. "That won't do you any good," he said. "It needs a charge to fire and I have never come across one."

The disappointment was like a bucket of cold water over me but then I reasoned that this was better than nothing. I could still use it to threaten my partners in crime - trouble was I knew that both Aldo and Rick were men not easily bluffed. I started frantically searching without result until Bob shouted, "I could do with some help here." Walking to join him, I kicked about in frustration and my foot somehow connected with something underneath his bench and sent it skittering across the floor. Looking down I saw that it was a thin metal cylinder but badly corroded. Scarcely able to believe my luck I found that it slid snugly into place in the gun. "You are still not much further forward," Bob said flatly. "That cartridge is almost certainly a dud and even if it does fire it's as likely to explode the gun as fire the harpoon."

His down to earth warning quickly dampened my elation. In addition, a one-shot weapon was not the answer to the problem because, even if it successfully immobilised one of the men, the other would most certainly kill me. "You're right," I said. "The best thing is to hide it until we can think of a way to use it." So saying, I slipped the weapon into a gap between the two large packing cases and started to help Bob reassemble the engine. I have to admit that loss of concentration allowed me to make silly mistakes because my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the time that I would spend with Liz that evening.

With our work completed, I returned with Lucy to the cabin upon which Aldo walked down to carry Bob back. Liz was sitting perched on a stool smoking. Her face seemed very set and she did not look at me. I made a coffee each for myself and Bob, and for the following half hour or so nothing much happened until Aldo suddenly asked, "What are we having for grub tonight?"

Still staring straight ahead Liz said, "Don't ask me. I'm tired. If I'm expected to give sex at all hours of the day and night, you can cook your own damn food."

There was a long silence at this rebellion until Aldo walked over and stood by her side. "She's right you know. You've been treating her like a fucking machine." Both Rick and I were treated to a long glare and then he bent and said to Liz, "Look, Knock us up some nosh now, something simple - and nobody will touch you for the rest of the day, I promise."

Armed with this guarantee, Liz provided cold tinned meats with baked beans and some of yesterday's fresh bread with tinned fruit and evaporated milk to follow. Afterwards, Lucy was put to bed early, Liz sat in a corner away from everybody reading, Bob fell asleep and the two other men kept switching stations on the radio looking for news bulletins. For me the evening was interminable as I sat selfishly regretting the fact that I was to be denied the sex that I had anticipated all day.

As we split up to our different sleeping places, Liz caught my eye briefly and I think that the look she threw me was one of apology. I climbed into the bunk above the sleeping child and waited for oblivion to engulf me but after a few minutes I heard the bed springs going in the adjoining room and realised with a sinking heart that Aldo's promise of freedom from molestation did not include him. My cock went stiff. It had hardly been soft all evening but now it sprang to iron hardness to burn and throb beneath my restraining hand. I could not keep the images out of my head. I saw her spread thighs with his bulk lying between then. I saw his gigantic penis distending the lips of her cunt and sliding deep inside, deeper than I could ever go. I saw her vaginal juices glistening on his shaft, her hips moving in unison with his and her arms around his neck. I saw her giving him the fuck that should have been mine.

And then I heard her voice. "Yes," she said, "Yes , YESSSSSS," and her cry merged with a bellow as he spent his seed into the depths of her womb. I couldn't believe it - the bastard had made her cum. I wished I was dead. Far from just using her body as a receptacle, he had got through to her, turned her on, given her pleasure. She had enjoyed being fucked by that monster. Had her body yielded to his passion involuntarily or had she given herself willingly as she had with me? A raging jealousy gnawed upon seeds of doubt. I had only her word for how she felt about them - about him. Was she a really just a poor abused wife making the best of things in a situation beyond her control or was she instead one of natures whores and having the time of her life?

From feeling just as betrayed as her poor husband, I calmed down. I think that I instinctively knew the truth. I still admired her - loved her. Finally objective reasoning gave me relative peace of mind when I asked myself - If I was in her situation with only my body as a weapon to save the life of my child, would I balk at putting my money on two different horses?

Mid morning the next day we were ready to go down to the workshop. I had rather assumed that Aldo would use his strength to manoeuvre the engine into position but I was mistaken. He stood with one arm possessively over Liz's shoulder, his hand down the front of her blouse casually fondling her breast. "You two should be able to manage it between you," he said. "I've got better way to spend my energy."

There was no arguing. Knowing what was on the agenda I asked if we should take Lucy with us. Aldo shook his head. "The kid's already seen me humping her mother and anyway - it's something that she has got to get used to."

Rick was far from pleased and muttered all the way but he grudgingly he helped to hoist the engine and move into position above the vehicle ready to lower into the engine cavity. Bob was underneath lying on one of the ball-bearing wheeled flat trolleys used in garages, looking up to ensure that the engine was lined up correctly. "Hold it," he called, " - leave it at that and take a break, I've seen something that I've forgotten to do."

I locked the break on the pulley and stood back feeling for my cigarettes. Rick was still voicing his displeasure, "When we get back I'm going to make the cunt lick my arse. I'll do it in front of her hubby so that the sad jerk really gets the picture and it will also let that bastard Aldo know that he can't have it all his own way."

I had sensibly advised Bob to let everything just wash over him, so God knows why I couldn't do the same. I snapped. "You really are a pure unadulterated lump of shit," I told Rick. "Men like you should be exterminated at birth - you pollute the air that everybody breathes."

The words seemed to hang an the air and Rick looked as if he could not believe his ears. Then slowly he started to smile but there was an evil glint in his eye. "You are dead," he said.

In prison it's all a matter of 'face' - you don't back down - so I met him stare for stare. I honestly didn't see the movement that brought the knife to his hand. "I wanted to stick you a long time ago but Aldo said that we needed your brains," he sneered. "Well you don't seem so fucking smart to me - you can't be to deliberately try to piss me off."

I grabbed a large spanner but it was a nominal gesture because I knew that I had no chance. Rick had the real weapon and he had lived a life of confrontation where I had not been in a fight since my schooldays, and then only the once. Rick knew this, He knew that I had little more real chance than an animal led to slaughter.. Making no advance he stood there supremely confident, his eyes fixed upon mine, casually flicking the knife from hand to hand and catching it unerringly every time. "It won't be quick," he told me sadistically. "I'm going to slice you up good, bit by bit, - and then I'm going to cut off your pecker before I kill you."

I considered flight but decided that I was marginally better facing my enemy. Rick was still talking. "I'm going to fix that motherfucker Aldo too. He thinks that he has the edge on me but he's going to find out different. Then I'll have the woman to do what I want with - and the girl."

Foolishly, I reacted to the goad, raising my poor weapon and leaning forward. Rick struck like a snake, stepping forward quickly and slashing at my hand holding the spanner. At that moment, Bob slid himself out from under the car. I don't know if he had emerged simply to see what was going on or with deliberate intention to help but the result was that Rick stood on his injured leg. Bob let out a cry of extreme pain as the trolley was propelled across the floor to crash into the packing cases. Rick in his turn staggered backwards, the knife flying out of his hand to clatter inside the empty engine compartment. Like a cat, he leapt to retrieve his weapon while I grabbed the pulley and hit the release.

My intention had been simply to drop the engine quickly, to deny access to the knife but that is not how it worked out. His blade had fallen within easy reach and Rick grabbed it quickly. Had he swiftly pulled back I would have been lost but instead he took the time to flick the knife from his left hand to the right and that infinitesimal fraction of a section made all the difference. The falling engine trapped and crushed his hand against the side of the engine bay causing the sadistic pervert to give a shriek of agony and fall to his knees.

A glanced across to where Bob lay unconscious with eyes closed and head lolling to the side. Looking back I was amazed to see that Rick had got to his feet and was thrusting the knife towards me. His eyes were glazed with pain but still showed intense hatred. "Come and get it punk, I can still take you with only one hand," he snarled through gritted teeth.

I almost ran forward to batter at him with my puny spanner before he could release that trapped limb but then my reputed brain clicked in. Looking round, I spotted a heavy crowbar about three feet long.

With that in hand I advanced cautiously and then, staying out of range of the wicked blade, I took a big swing and had the satisfaction of hearing the bone in his upper arm break. My next blow struck the side of his neck knocking him once more to his knees and the third crushed his scull.

I took a deep breath and lowered the bloodied end of the metal bar to the floor. "So this is what you get up to when I'm not around," said a voice.

Whirling round I saw Aldo standing in the doorway. He was smiling but I found the excessively casual way in which he started moving towards me disturbingly ominous. "Not to worry, you've saved me a job," he went on and then seeing the body of Bob, also apparently no longer in the land of the living, he laughed, "My, you have been busy, honestly Jed, I didn't think that you had it in you. I suppose I was next."

Fear is strange. It is fear that paralyses the rabbit in front of a snake and it's fear than can make a man hand a loaded gun to the person he fears. I let the crowbar fall to the floor and held out my hands towards him, palms up. "Honest Aldo, Rick started it - he pulled his knife and I only defended myself. He intended to kill you as well you know."

Aldo nodded. "Of course he did. Why do you think I provoked him the other night? I hoped to settle it then and no longer have to watch my back." While speaking, Aldo had come up to me to rest his hands on my shoulders with fingers loosely around my neck. "Don't feel too badly about this," he said. "I was going to kill you tomorrow anyway, so you're not losing much."

His thumbs pressed against my throat and he lifted me in the air so that I was dangling by my neck. I didn't struggle, grab his arms or try to kick - it would have been so completely futile. He pressed harder but it was less than lethal pressure because it seemed that he had more to say. My head was pounding and there was a ringing in my ears but I heard his words with perfect clarity. "You wanted her yourself, didn't you Jed, you can't deny it. You'd no chance sucker because she's crazy about me. I'm taking her with me, the three of us - her and the kid. Nobody suspects a man with a family. I'm going a long way away with her and we're going to settle down - I might even go straight. You deserve to know this before..."

Aldo stopped talking and his jaw dropped like a bad actor giving a poor interpretation of surprise. Slowly his arms dropped, setting me gently on the floor and then, ever so slowly he sank to his knees. As he toppled forward I stepped back to see the harpoon sticking out of his back. Bob was lying grasping the gun. "Got the bastard," he said and I have never seen a look of such sublime satisfaction on any man's face.

Having made the supreme effort, Bob's eyes closed and his head fell back. I ran over to find a steady reasonably pulse but his breathing a trifle ragged. Then I made my way at speed up to the cabin. Liz was looking out of the window with a worried expression, alerted by the same cries of pain that had drawn Aldo to the shed. Drawing closer she met me at the door. Although anxiety remained on her face, I could see relief in her eyes at my safe appearance. "They're both dead," I reported. "But Bob has injured his leg again and I need your help to get him back to the cabin."

Utilising some old ski's but not without difficulty, we managed to drag her husband the twenty five yards to the cabin and try to make him comfortable. It was very obvious that he was delirious. Leaving Liz kneeling by his side I walked to the door and told her, "I'm going down the mountain to get help."

"Not dressed like that you're not. Be sensible. A few more minutes is not going to make any difference and the better prepared you set off then the better chance of success. Get a hot drink inside of you while I grab a few things."

Without arguing I made two coffees, finishing just as she returned with her arms full of clothing. The cabin had been pretty thoroughly turned over, so where this stuff came from I had no idea. She had brought thermal underwear, waterproof leggings, a insulated snow jacket with hood, proper hiking boots and a pair of ski goggles. I dressed gratefully and then found that she was pressing a bundle of bank-notes into my hand, "There's five hundred here. Please take it - you're going to need it."

Then we were at the door. "I'll be as quick as I can," I assured her. "I'll try ringing the rescue services on the telephone but if I have trouble making them understand, I'll turn myself in to make sure they come."

Liz didn't speak but stepped forward and kissed me. We clung together for a few seconds and then I broke away. Having taken less than half a dozen steps away from the door I turned and went back because I had to know. "Why did you let him make you cum last night?"

"I didn't," she said.

I shook my head sadly, "I heard you."

"I faked it. Doing that allowed me to make him lose control without getting suspicious. I did not want to have that animal inside me one second longer than I had to."

I smiled at her because I knew it was the truth and then I ran away down the slope.

The journey down the mountain was accomplished without mishap although it took me over four hours. Fortunately, there were also no problems with the rescue services. I described myself as a passing hiker and reported that there was a woman and small child in the cabin, alone with a badly injured man. Less than fifteen minutes later a helicopter flew past and headed up the mountain, to be followed not much later by another bearing police insignia. Arriving at the bus station, I found a long distance bus about to depart so quickly bought a ticket.

I heard about subsequent events both in newspapers and on the news. My name was seldom mentioned with most commentators assuming that I had perished in the ravine prior to the events in the cabin.

I originally wrote this story over ten years ago and then some time later went back to add an update but for some reason left that in a separate file. Two years later a computer disaster made me believe that all my various tales were lost. Fortunately at the end of 2013 I got the bulk of the missing stories back but the update remained AWOL. To complete the tale I have recreated that ending from memory but some may prefer to stop reading at this point.

UPDATE

Five years have passed since the events described above. I wrote it all out as soon as I got myself reasonably settled, mainly to get all that had happened sorted out in my mind.

For a long time the story of what happened in the cabin dominated the both newspapers and TV bulletins with the lurid headlines being permutations of 'Crippled hero single-handedly slays two escaped killers who violated his wife.' This allowed me to get a good picture of the immediate aftermath with the relieving knowledge that the small family had come through the ordeal reasonably well.

My main consideration was my own survival and I have to say that but for the cash that Liz gave me I would most certainly have failed. It allowed me to keep my head below the parapet until my immediate danger period was over. Critically I was able to pay for cheap hostel accommodation when otherwise I would have been forced to sleep rough in the continuing winter weather. At the end of a month my previously shaved head had grown a nice covering of hair and I had acquired some identity concealing facial fungus. With a pair of plain glass spectacles to complete the deception, I felt confident enough to find myself casual labouring work.