Snatched (3 page)

For the first time since Moira had been forced into this fantasy world existence, she could feel fear creeping in, causing goose bumps to appear up and down her arms. She debated in her head whether or not to tell Abby what she had briefly seen inside the
house, when Barbara opened the pink door. She wanted her to know but she also was scared that Abby wouldn’t be able to handle it. She could barely believe it herself. How could something like this be happening and no one know? What kind of world was this, where someone could just snatch a person off the street and basically steal their life? Wasn’t there anyone out there looking for them? How could women be missing and no one missing them? What kind of women are we she thought, that no one even cares what has happened to us? A tear trickled down her cheek and landed on the sunflower design on the front of her dress. Moira heard the screen door slam against the wooden frame. The noise snapped her out of her thoughts and brought her back into this false fantasy world. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up to see Daddy Joe coming out with Abby. The smile on Abby’s face was as bright as the sun beaming down on them. He carefully placed Abby on the blanket next to Moira.

“Now you two play and enjoy some fresh air. I think it do you both some good.”

A bird flew overhead and landed on a branch in the sycamore tree above. Moira pointed to it and made the flapping motion with her arms and giggled trying to stay in character. Abby giggled at Moira’s impersonation of the bird.

“Yes baby girl there’s your bird, you are so smart and observant. Now stay on your blanket and play. Daddy Joe will be back after cleaning up your room.”

They watched him as he walked back towards the house dragging his leg behind him. He grimaced in pain, as he walked up the five stairs leading to the screen door.

He blew a kiss in their direction before entering the house and then turned and said “Daddy Joe loves his two good little girls. Always remember bad little girls will be punished.” 

Once he was inside the house and out of view, they looked at each other. Moira saw what she was thinking when she looked into Abby’s eyes. Fear. Daddy Joe had just did a complete 180 degree turn and it was a sinister turn at that.  That was his way of telling them that he will hurt them if he needs to. That was actually the first time anything threatening and bone chilling had come out of daddy Joe’s mouth, that was directed at them. It made the hairs on the back of Moira’s neck stand to attention and take notice. In fact for the first time, every fiber in her body was on alert and frightened. Abby lowered her head as if it weighed too much to hold up any longer. Moira reached over to Abby and lifted her head up and looked directly into her brown eyes and shook her head.

“No”, she mouthed.

She had to keep Abby in a positive frame of mind, even if she wasn’t 100 % convinced herself. She told Abby that they needed to memorize the yard and whatever they may see in the house that could aid in their escape. The special language between the two of them was getting better. They were learning how to communicate more and more, without ever speaking a word. 

Looking around the yard Moira was amazed at the massive size of yard. It was at least the size of a city’s parking lot, if not larger. There was green grass as far as Moira's eyes could see. The grass was prickly yet soft.  It must have been freshly mowed, because the aroma of the grass, filled the entire backyard. Moira had never smelled anything that smelled so good in her entire life. It had the smell of FREEDOM. It felt so good to finally be able to breathe some fresh air and not that musty, moldy air that filled the basement. Moira was in heaven at that very exact moment. Their blanket had been placed under the one isolated sycamore tree in the yard. A child's handmade swing made from an old tire, swung back and forth in the cool morning breeze. It looked like a picture straight out of a magazine. The key word being “looked”, because Moira was learning more and more every day just how looks can be so deceiving.

They were allowed to stay outside for a couple of hours, before daddy Joe came out to bring them back in. Moira was starting to feel like her old self again. She didn’t want to go back inside. It felt so good just feeling the sun’s heat radiating down on her skin. She didn’t protest when daddy appeared, everything has its course to run and she guessed this was the end of theirs at least for today. For tomorrow was a brand new day and she would work her web of charm on daddy Joe and try to get them another excursion outside.

Moira’s plan had worked, in fact it was working very smoothly, she thought as she sat underneath the old sycamore tree for the second day in a row.

“Alright baby girl, you stay here while I go get little Abby.”

Mo
ira smiled the biggest toothiest grin she could muster up. Daddy Joe laughed at her great big smile as he walked back towards the house, waving as he slipped behind the screen door. Moira could still see him standing in the shadows behind the wooden door. He was watching her and was trying to see what she was going to do. One step ahead of you daddy Joe, she silently mouthed to herself. Moira rolled over on her back and started kicking her legs up and down while laughing and playing by herself. She never trusted daddy Joe and now she could see that some of his true colors were starting to surface. Her freedom was too close to mess up now. Freedom was just beyond that fence, she thought. Looking across the yard at the huge wooden fence that surrounded the perimeters of that place. It was the tallest fence Moira had ever seen. She couldn’t tell if the fence was there to keep them in or to keep others out? That fence was going to be a big obstacle, but Moira was determined to find a way to overcome it, because it was the only thing standing in her way of getting her life back.

Who
was this man that was holding them captive? He was not your average sick-minded weirdo. Moira could tell that this man actually had some brains. She knew she was going to have to anticipate his every move. That would be the only way they would ever be prepared to counter attack when the right moment came along. Moira turned to the sound of the raggedy screen door squeaking and banging shut against the old wooden molding. Abby looked so happy, Moira thought. The sunshine and the fresh air was certainly casting a hypnotic spell over Abby. She looked at peace as daddy Joe placed her down on the blanket. He looked down at them for a few moments without moving or saying anything. Finally he opened his mustache framed mouth and said "Daddy loves his good girls, because they don't cry and talk, like all those other ones once did. Daddy only loves good girls." He turned and started walking slowly back towards the fake brick house, dragging his injured leg through the grass.

A chill ran down Moira's back at that exact instance. It wasn't what daddy had said, although it was a little creepy, but it was more in the way in which he said it, that made her spine tingle. Moira turned to look at Abby, but Abby's piercing brown eyes were already zeroed in on hers. She moved her head up and down hoping that would reassure Abby that everything was going to be alright. She couldn't afford to have Abby falling apart, not now when they were getting so close to freedom. They played and played moving around on every inch of the blanket just in case daddy Joe was still lurking about somewhere looking at them. Whereas in reality what they were actually doing was trying to visually memorize every inch of that yard. It may take at least more trip outside before they would be able to plan their breakout. Moira motioned to her ears, she wanted Abby to be aware of what she was hearing and not hearing. Moira had been outside alone for at least ten minutes before daddy Joe and Abby came out. She had not heard any cars, horns, trucks, or even any movement nearby, only the little bird chirping in the single isolated sycamore tree.

Moira must have fell asleep because she woke up to the sound of daddy Joe coming out of the house with their breakfast/lunch depending on what time of the day it was. Sometimes they got fed on time and sometimes they just had to wait until something was brought to them. She couldn't tell what time of day it was, she was just glad to be getting something to eat to keep her strength up. Breakfast for them usually consisted of baby food for Abby, and a combination of baby and finger food for Moira. There was usually an ample supply of fresh milk and water provided throughout the day.  Baby food tastes terrible, except for peaches Moira thought as she swallowed hard to get the strained peas down. No wonder babies spit it back out at you when you’re trying to feed them this crap. Moira had notice that Abby was starting to lose quite a bit of weight, which wasn’t a good thing. Moira knew that they would have to stay strong and healthy to be able to even attempt any type of escape. Moira sneaked a piece of her finger food and stored it in the pocket of her yellow sundress. She was hungry enough to lick her plate clean, but she had to stay in baby-mode. Babies don't usually eat everything on their plate. They tend to play with their food more than they eat, so she made sure to scatter bits of food here and there. Moira was still so hungry but she knew she would not only eat but she would feast, once they were safely outside the confines of this fake brick structure.

The sun's rays felt so good against Moira's skin after being locked up in that basement all that time. She watched as the morning's sun mingled with the breeze sweeping over the leaves of the old sycamore tree. She was captivated by the movement of the leaves dancing to the tempo of the wind. Please Lord, I just want to go home, Moira screamed in her head.

Moira couldn’t remember how she had been snatched and that bothered her. Every time she tried to remember she would drew a blank. It was as if she had lost a piece of time and her precious memory all at the same time. She wondered if Abby remembered how she had been abducted. Moira imagined that the leaves on the tree were dancing and sending her a private message as what to do, as well as providing them with a fool-proof escape plan. Dancing and giving her a beautiful musical performance. Was this how she was destined to spend the rest of her life, pretending to be a toddler? Revolting and discouraging images played through her head.

"NO!” Moira shouted out loud, totally wrapped up in her own thoughts.

Daddy Joe looked up from what he was doing nearby in the yard.

"What did you just say Moira?"

Thinking quickly, Moira flashed him that cheesy grin that he always fell for and started clapping her hands together, as if she hadn't said a word. She was just a happy little girl mumbling and playing.

"That's daddy's happy little girl. Moira watch your little sister, while I go inside for a while."

Moira waved bye-bye to daddy Joe. Looking across the blanket at Abby she knew that they didn't have a lot of time, because this little excursion outside today may never present itself again. Opportunity and time was not exactly on their side. For two hours they looked and recorded in their memory banks, the look and feel of this place.  Trying hard to figure out how to escape over the gigantic white fence that surrounded this piece of land. Moira had noticed something strange about the house, when she was sitting inside on the linoleum floor. The outside actually looked like one of those cabins that you would find in the woods made out of cobblestones, and the inside looked more like a hotel, especially with the long corridors and adjacent door pattern. Someone had tried to design this building to make it seem more homey and comfortable. Moira was glad that she had noticed that little tidbit of information, because the police may be interested in that. The entire time they had been outside there had not been any traffic noises. Which only suggested that they were in some secluded area. Just how secluded was the question of the moment and that had Moira worried.

The sun was starting to disappear behind the fluffy clouds as Daddy Joe came across the lawn. He picked up Abby and headed back towards the house. She watched as daddy Joe walked across the grass. She had never thought about it before but for an older guy, daddy Joe was quite strong, especially with an injured leg. Being able to lift the two of them and carry them up and down the stairs was a feat in itself. Daddy Joe turned and looked over at Moira before going inside.

“I will be right back,” he shouted.

Moira was grateful for any amount of time outside the confines of that nursery. Moira wasn't ready to go back inside, she was tired, and she desperately wanted her life back. Moira's eyes glistened as the tears began to fall non-stop. She was frustrated beyond description and she was tired of having to be so strong all the time. The tears dripping down her face was the result of all the bottled up emotions inside of her. She was playing her own private game of make-believe too with Abby. She could never let Abby see her break down like this. She was the strong one, she was the one that had to hold Abby together, but just one thing was wrong with that. Who was going to be the one that would hold her together? She took one last long look around the yard and at the back of the house, before daddy Joe came back to retrieve her. Moira crawled a little closer to the back door. She wanted daddy Joe to think that she had crawled off the blanket on her own, just as all toddlers do. At the next outdoor outing she would pretend to crawl over near the fence so she could get a closer look, at what they are up against. From where she had been laying under the sycamore tree, that fence seemed to be their biggest obstacle, outside of daddy Joe and Barbara of course.

"Moira, what do you think you are doing?"

Moira jumped at the sound of daddy Joe's voice. The sternness in his voice startled her and threw her off guard for a moment and then he quickly softened his tone.