10,000 feet below, three college coeds had just finished pitching their tent in the Blackwoods National Forest, having not the first inkling of the terror unfolding miles above their heads. The camping trip had been organized by Penny to help her friend, Jodi, get over her painful break up with Brad. Penny’s roommate, Daisy, had more or less tagged along. Penny liked her roommate, but she wasn’t sure she really wanted her on a weekend camping trip. She was such a…well, such a blonde. She had brought a makeup kit, hair dryer, hairspray, her favorite shampoo, conditioner, and gel, all for a three day camping trip, and Penny was sure she planned to use them. And the way that girl dressed! Daisy Dukes and a tank-top that swooped so low that all but the gayest of men had to stare. When Penny asked about the outfit, Daisy replied straight-faced, “Hey, ‘ya never know, Penny. Some of those Park Rangers are pretty cute. Always, always be on the lookout!” Only Daisy would come to the middle of the woods hoping to get laid.
Penny herself dressed more modestly. The redhead had on a pair off L.L. Bean shoes with thick white socks going up to her ankles, jean shorts that folded just above her knees and a simple white T-shirt. Her brunette pal Jodi dressed similar, in white shorts and white T-shirt. A pair of ankle socks and sneakers finished the outfit. Daisy the dingbat wore only canvas shoes, no socks. Ideal for a day on a boat maybe, but not much good in the deep woods.
The girls had just finished pitching the tent when a newcomer crashed their party. “Up in the sky,” Daisy pointed. Her friends looked up to see a form gradually coming into focus, first a dot, then a silhouette, then finally the clear outline of a man hanging from a parachute. He hit the ground hard not more than a hundred yards from them, then skidded as the chute continued to drag him over the grass. The girls watched, amazed, as he whooshed passed them, fighting with his chute all the while, finally wrestling the thing under control.
“C’mon, girls,” Penny yelled to her friends, and the three coeds ran towards the man.
“You okay, mister?” Jodi asked. “Are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” the man panted, unhooking the parachute straps from his shoulders. “That was quite a jump.”
“Yea, but ‘ya couldnt’ve landed in a better spot,” Daisy said, touching his forearm, “I’m Daisy, by the way.” Jodi and Penny rolled their eyes. A man falls from the sky and Daisy is after him already.
The man didn’t seem to mind her affection, “Really? Can I ask you something, Daisy? Do any of you have a phone?”
“Nope,” Jodi cut in. “We all left our phones behind. The whole point of this weekend was to get away from it all. But there’s a forest ranger station just about two miles west of here.”
“Really? That’s good to know. Mind if I ask you something else?”
“Shoot.”
“Hopefully, I won’t have to.” The supposedly distressed man pulled out a revolver. The entire day had just been flipped over. “Don’t try anything stupid, girls.”
“What the-“
“Quiet!” He snapped at Daisy, “Quiet all of you. Do exactly as I say and no one gets killed. You three girls just happen to be at the wrong place, wrong time. I don’t plan to hurt you. I’m just going to tie you up. Put your hands on your head and march to your tent. Now.”
Baffled, the girls marched single file to their just-pitched tent, fingers laced behind their heads, the crazed skydiver right behind them. They stopped at the tent entrance, frozen as statues. “Good,” he told them, “Now all three of you, get in there, and don’t come out until I say so. Try to run and believe me, I’m a lot faster and stronger than any of you, and I’ll get at least one of you. Capeche?”
The girls nodded, then meekly climbed into their tent.
“What are we gonna do?” Daisy cried. “Oh Jodi, why did you have to tell him we didn’t have any cell phones? Now he knows we can’t call for help.”
“Oh, like how the hell was I supposed to know?”
“Girls,” Penny cut in. “We’ll get nowhere fighting with each other. Now, let’s just make a plan. Did any of us bring a camping knife?” The girls shook their heads. Fuckola, thought Penny. Maybe a weekend without boys wasn’t such a great idea. Her Dirk always had a Swiss Army knife. “Well, let’s scrounge around the tent for something else we can use to cut ourselves loose.” But having just set up the tent, it was perfectly bare, and the girls found themselves vainly searching empty, dark corners. “Well, don’t worry. I’m sure if we just stick-“
“Out, Red.” The man barged in, grabbing Penny by her arm and hoisting her off the tarp bottom. “You’re first.” He dragged her out of the tent, gun in his other hand.
Penny tried to remain calm as he forced her outside and ordered her to lie face down on the grass. He had cut numerous cords off of his chute, so that a pile of ropes lay on the earth. He quickly, matter-of-factly bound her hands and feet, just as he had the two helpless stewardesses. He then cradled her in her arms and propped her up against a tree, a thin poplar about a foot in diameter, nature’s telephone pole. He grabbed a longer length of rope, which he looped around her torso and around the tree, circling a few times below her breasts, then across her waist, then a few more passes around her knees, lashing her to the tree. He grabbed a shorter rope, tied her ankles together, then used the slack to tie her bound feet to the tree’s bottom. She was trussed like a witch about to be burned at the stake.
“Got any more, rope, mister?” Penny griped. “I think I can still move one of my toes.” The man ignored her and came back with a long length a silk cut from his parachute. “Open your mouth. Now.” Penny did nothing. “Want me to force that purty mouth of yours open?” Penny, knowing she had no choice, rolled her eyes before gently opening her mouth, mimicking a Catholic receiving the host. The man walked behind her, lifted the cloth with one end in each hand, and pulled the gag into her mouth. He wound the cloth around her head, tied a knot between her pouting lips, cramming more fabric into her mouth until it was full of chute silk. “Sorry to have to do this,” he said as he tied off the gag at the base of her neck, “But I can’t have you telling anyone where I am.”
“Yuh, em surf,” Penny shot back (yea, I’m sure).
Hooper picked up some more ropes and gags and headed into
the tent, gun drawn. Penny could only stand helplessly and listen as her
friends were both bound and gagged; “Ouch! Lemmie go! Does it have to be so
tight? You don’t need to gag us, no on can hear uff aff mmph.”
Hooper emerged from the tent, a tied up and terrified Daisy in his arms. The girl had been bound hand and foot with cords and gagged with another long strip of parachute. Hooper gently put her down next to a large oak a few feet from the tree he’d tied Penny to, then went back into the tent. He emerged seconds later with Jodi slung over his shoulder, her bound feet facing Penny. Jodi at least had her ankles protected by socks; poor Daisy was sockless and the ropes dug deep. Hooper carried a bundle of parachute cord in his one free hand, pistol tucked into his belt.
Hey lay Jodi next to Daisy, then picked up the blonde and propped her up against the giant oak. “Steady, girl.” He leaned her softly against the tree’s trunk, “Wouldn’t want you falling over and hitting your pretty little head.” He next swept up Jodi, who let out a little squeal, and leaned her up against the oak on the opposite side of Daisy. With the girls on opposing sides of the thick trunk, he unfurled a long, 30 foot rope. He yanked the rope with his left hand through his right, brought the end around, and tied it off, making a loop that encircled the girls. He tightened the noose, squeezing both girls to the tree, until he could pull no more, then cinched off the end. With one end secure, he took up the other end and casually walked clockwise around the tree, again and again, each pass lashing the girls tighter to the tree. He made sure the rope gradually went downwards; the first couple passes went across their chests, then diagonal down to the waist, a few times across their knees and shins, finally ending at their ankles. When the rope ran out he tied it off, pulling hard, squeezing both whimpering girls tighter. He then inspected his handiwork, checking the knots and plucking the ropes for tightness with the
precision and care of a violin-maker
Satisfied, he walked away and inspected the girls’ belongings. He opened their rucksacks and emptied their contents onto the grassy ground, ignoring the girls’ squealing and grunts of protest. He swiped a few practical items; flashlights, matches, plus whatever food he could find. Then he switched on the radio Daisy had insisted on bringing. He tooled around a few moments until he found a station broadcasting the news and turned it up as loud as it would go. As he gathered the stolen loot into his backpack, the radio blared: “Police still have not identified the man who hijacked Northern Airlines flight 309 out of Seattle. When the plane landed in Phoenix the hijacker was not on board. Details still sketchy at this time…”
The girls glared at the man with astonished muppet eyes. Slowly he approached Penny; “That’s right, Red. I’m famous. Think of it, when they find you ladies you’ll be on TV. You’re gonna meet Larry King, Maybe even Jay Leno. So while you’re standing around waiting to be rescued, just think of all the book and movie deals.”
“Movur Fooker.”
“Love ‘ya too, darling.” He kissed Penny on the check, causing her to mmmph a couple times while shaking her head, fuming. He merely threw on his backpack and walked off into the wilderness.
Penny and Daisy faced each other, tied to opposite trees, while Jodi was able to turn her head enough to look back at her friends. Once Hooper was safely out of site the girls writhed, vigorously, hoping to slide the biting ropes off or at least loosen their gags. But Hooper was a pro, and after few minutes of pointless struggling the fatigued girls gave up. They stared at each other. There was nothing else they could possibly do.
Next
