(aka Bike) Part 1900 by Angharad Copyright © 2012 Angharad
All Rights Reserved. |
Back at home, I collected the groceries and the flowers from the boot of the car and told the three girls to take them down to Ingrid’s cottage. I stood and watched as they knocked on the door and then handed them in.
“You must be Cathy’s daughters?” I heard a voice say from inside the door.
“Yes, I’m Trish, this is Mima and that’s Livvie. We have to go now, bye.” They came trotting back to me and we went inside the house.
“Who are they, Mummy? She’s got tattoos and a black eye?”
“Some people who need our help, no more questions, okay?”
The three of them gave me funny looks but I ignored them. They then went in search of Stella or Jacquie for more information, but they’d get very little from either. I sent the girls off to change and to bring their dirty clothes down for washing. While they were doing that Danny arrived home. I gave him similar instructions. He grumbled and went up to his room.
While I was at Ingrid’s previous home, I didn’t see any sign of a computer. I bought a cheap laptop for them as a Christmas present, which would enable them to do all the usual, internet, play music or DVDs, even a web cam thing so they could skype people if they wanted to. Trish or Sammi would be only too pleased to show them how to do things and they could use our wi-fi connection for the net.
Once the children had supplied their dirty clothes, I stuck the machine on and asked David if he needed any help. He asked me to do some veg and I spent twenty minutes washing spuds.
After this, I went to change into a skirt for dinner, but Trish called me for something and I didn’t bother, just changing my top and leaving my jeans and trainers on. Whatever it was she wanted–oh a biscuit–which I denied her because we were about twenty minutes from dinner at six.
Just then, Tom arrived, and following him in were Si and Sammi; by the time they’d changed dinner would be ready. I mentioned we had two guests coming for dinner and they shrugged and went to change.
To make it less formal, I thought we’d eat in the kitchen, as I thought it would be cosier for Ingrid and Hannah. Fortunately my kitchen is huge and my table has a capacity to expand with a flap in the middle–hark at me, it’s Tom’s furniture–but I suppose as his daughter, I get to organise things.
David had done us proud, we had a salmon with watercress sauce, new potatoes, petite pois and baby carrots. There was no starter, and the pudding was ice cream and strawberry purée. Ingrid and her daughter couldn’t believe that we employed a chef, but having licked their lips during the meal, they could see why. We ate well and healthily.
“That was, pure magic, Cathy. David you’re a wizard,” said Ingrid as she sipped her coffee and Hannah was nodding in agreement.”
I excused myself to check on Catherine who’d been put to bed by Jacqui, but who’d been teething and therefore restless. Stella came with me to check on Fiona, who was also teething. While we were upstairs calamity struck.
I heard the doorbell but had my hands full with the baby, so I paid no attention to it until I heard raised voices and screams. I handed the baby to Stella and told her to stay with the three little ones and lock her door and not open it until I came back.
The voices were still raised as I crept down the stairs. A stranger was shouting and Simon was shouting back. There were screams and it had to be that thugs had broken into the house–possibly related to Cortez, or Ingrid’s previous partner or just robbers. I flew back up the stairs and after locking my bedroom door, I assembled my bow and with a quiver of arrows–still with target points–I set off in defence of my home.
I managed to sneak down the stairs unobserved. Some complete stranger was threatening to cut Ingrid’s throat if Simon didn’t tell him where I was. The girls were all hugging themselves and cowering under the table. The adults were still seated at the table except Sammi, who was cowering on the floor at the feet of another thug who was also holding a vicious looking knife.
To stop the man with the knife at Ingrid’s throat would require head shot and a Robin Hood or William Tell type character. The man was wearing a ski mask and he threatened again. Simon stood and screamed at him. The man pointed at him with the knife and my arrow caught him somewhere near the collar bone. Did he scream, but not as much as the one standing over Sammi, he took an arrow to the chest and the impact knocked him backwards.
“There’s one more, Cathy,” yelled Simon, “and he’s mine.” I saw the man edging towards the door and Simon clambered onto the table and threw himself at the man as he turned to flee. Fourteen stone (196 lbs for the colonials) landed on him and he fell to the ground with a splat and Simon hit him twice I think.”
Sirens sounded and the remaining member of the gang–the man I sorted out earlier was stopped in the drive by the police. Trish had managed to text the police while under the table–she’s an amazing child–talk about cool head. I found out later that the others sat in front of her so they couldn’t see she had her phone with her.
I got reprimanded–what’s new–it’s illegal to shoot people with a bow. The bow and a couple of arrows were confiscated by police. I’d already stashed most of them and the best bow back upstairs.
Eventually a Superintendent arrived. “Lady Cameron, you can’t just go round shooting people, firing arrows everywhere.”
“You shoot arrows, you fire guns,” I corrected him, not feeling at all contrite. The ambulance and paramedics had determined that neither of the wounded men had life threatening injuries, although the first had a smashed collar bone and the second fractures of the sternum–damn, I knew this bow pulled a little to the left. It should have been a heart shot.
“Anyway you can’t go round shooting people willy-nilly. What if they’d been neighbours wanting to borrow a cup of sugar?”
“Our nearest neighbours are a mile away, and I’ve never seen one yet threaten a guest with a knife to their throat.”
“You could have killed her, not the knife man,” the superintendent berated me, and when I thought about it, he was right. The bow pulling slightly to the left meant the bandit got it, not Ingrid, though I’d probably have hit him in the throat not her.
“I knew what I was doing.”
“What if one of them had had a gun?”
“I’d have used a head shot.”
“What? Deliberately shot to kill?”
“Your marksmen would have done.”
“They’re trained and assess the situation before giving fire.”
“Is that why they shoot the wrong one so often?”
“That’s not us, that’s the Met.”
“Oh, the plebs.”
He gave me a filthy look and a little twinkle shone in his eyes for a moment. “I will seriously consider charging you with assault with a deadly weapon or even attempted murder.”
“I’ll claim self-defence and defence of my family.”
“It might not be enough.”
“If I’d wanted to kill them, I’d have used two head shots.”
“With all due respect, Lady Cameron, I doubt you could do that in such circumstances.”
“If you’d like to have two of your officers, preferably ones you don’t like, stand where the two attackers stood, I’ll show you–oh you’ll have to give me back my bow and arrows.”
“What? Are you crazy?”
“Are you calling me a liar?” I said equally loudly.
“No, I’m just voicing my opinion.”
“So am I, only mine is based upon experience. Yours on ignorance–now arrest me or let me put my children to bed.”
Comments
Bike Forever
Love Bike.
Bike is the first thing that I look for everyday.
Cathy Hood is back!
I am glad she is. What is legal, and what is not in the UK, so far as protecting one's home and family, especially when the perps are inside the house, masked, and threatening to kill someone in the household? I am on Cathy's side and I commend her use of deadly, constrained force. I really hope the policemen who answered the call are of the same mind. The policemen also need to talk to Andy Bond about this unique young lady!
Got paw prints all over it from my two favorite felines! If I had their imagination and skills in making their human do the typing for their stories, perhaps I as a human, could get some of my ideas written down in a manner worthy of a writer.
Oh, well! At least I have Bonzi and Izzy's story to keep me dreaming of what I wish I could do!
Scritches, Scratches, and tummy rubs for both of you! And if your human refuses, then use your cat wiles on her!
Don't let someone else talk you out of your dreams. How can we have dreams come true, if we have no dreams?
Katrina Gayle "Stormy" Storm
Self defence in the UK ..
... is perfectly legal provided reasonable force is used. In certain circumstances, such as this, then reasonable could go as far as lethal. Obviously an investigation would need to take place to check that it really was self defence and not a scene set up to disguise a murder, say.
Bear in mind that Bike is fiction, and good fiction too, and doesn't really reflect real life in most cases. I'm just glad I live in a country where I feel very safe without the need to be armed to the teeth.
Robi
Not sure on this one.
We all know this government has changed the so called 'rules' as applied by the courts on this vexatious question. When is one allowed to use deadly force.
I believe the jury and the judge should be given more latitude to reach their own conclusions as to the severity of any charges and/or the severity of any punishments. I believe (and it hurts me to say this because I basically DONT TRUST JUDGES!) that judges should be given a free hand to determine suitable punishments and juries should be free to reach their own conclusions about the degree of the offence in addition to any berdict of guilt (if any).
There are so many variables in cases of 'self defence or defence of one's family' that the courts should be given More latitude to determine the sentence or whatever. I can tell Cathy's blood lust is up whenever the crossbow comes out, but after all the attackers were armed.
Still lovin' it Ang.
Happy Solstice.
Bevs.
XXX
Cathy versus the police
Yet another round - but let's face it, any charges against Cathy would be unlikely to make it to court, and even if they did the charges would probably be thrown out based on the circumstances.
Oh, and bows are virtually silent, so by the time a second thug is aware that the first one's been hit, there's an arrow headed in his direction.
IIRC, the law says you can use reasonable force to protect yourself, but (rather unhelpfully) doesn't contain any definitions of what constitutes reasonable force, so it's up to individual police / judges / juries to determine on a case-by-case basis. Even then, the definition probably depends on circumstances - you're more liekly to get into trouble if, for example, you try tackling a burglar who's in the process of leaving empty handed than if you tackle them within your house.
Even though the 'right' decision is usually made, I think the main problem many have is that it can take many months for the case to work its way through the legal system, so the householder is left in legal limbo and facing uncertainty over what may happen for extended periods of time.
[EDIT] Here's Wikipedia's article on Self-defence in English Law and Defence of property.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
Complete incongruity to me.
I can certainly understand not shooting an assailant outside your home, but when they are in your own home and are assaulting a guest, I believe assault and termination should be legal, and I know it is quite right morally.
I just don't know where people in other countries get off railing at America over guns. The Media strenuously distort the facts to create more hysteria.
Last night, George Stephanopoulous, of white house fame, said America is extremely violent in that we had killed 80 people this year and Australia had killed 6. Well, those in OZ have 14 times less population than the US. So, in killings per thousand, the US is quite a lot more peaceful than he leads us to believe.
AND, there are NO Malalas here. Women are not openly raped in the streets like in Egypt, and American Women can walk around without wearing a black tent.
Sorry, just feeling a bit quarelsome this afternoon.
Cathy should just tell the plod to bugger off.
G
Kind of expected one man to show up at the house
not a gang. Not clear to me who these were? Poor Ingrid, goes from being beaten by her husband to being threatened by a masked murderer. Not sure she'll feel too safe at Cathy's house.
"Firing arrows everywhere?" According to what I read, Cathy fired two arrows both of which hit their intended targets both of whom were threatening Cathy's family with knives. It's the police who tend to fire shots all over and hit innocents more often than they hit their targets. The inspector should be asking Cathy to give his officers lessons.
As always - get the family lawyer on the way. Hoping that was Trish's next call. After all, she's a smart kid!
Me too!
Just who were the intruders? And what did they want with Cathy?
More questions than answers, so I guess I'll be back again tomorrow (when it will be Christmas Day here in the Antipodes) looking for my gift. Thanks heaps, Ang.
Puzzled Somewhat
Bike Resources
How many arrows score 1900?
Just wondering how many arrows are needed to score 1900.
Know in the small target game, known as darts, maximum score is 180 .....
Happy Christmas to all the readers or whatever festival you may celebrate at this time.
Brian
Wow, 1900 episodes
A long runing and much loved serial. Thanks Angharad. You've become a part of my evening. While I could (I suppose) live without my daily dose of bike I'd sure rather not have to.
Many many thanks and have a happy holiday!
Love this story
But Cathy's conversation with the superintendent reminded me of a movie scene.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070355/quotes
Memorable quotes for
Magnum Force (1973)
Harry Callahan: Well, I just work for the city, Briggs!
Lieutenant Briggs: So do I, longer than you, and I never had to take my gun out of its holster once. I'm proud of that.
Harry Callahan: Well, you're a good man, lieutenant. A good man always knows his limitations...
Or in this case, A Good woman knows her abilities.
Hugs, Fran
If the link works
there's a whole load of clips from Dirty Harry including that one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h0uT3QKQ88g
Not altogether sure Cathy would like to be compared to him all the same.
Angharad
Seriously...
How often has Cathy talked to an empty chair?
Annette
1900 Bikes!
Wow, 1900 bike episodes! Thank you so much for continuing this, Ang.
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Season of Goodwill it is, but
when Cathy-Arrow has to defend her family, the thugs pay the price! Hope Andy Bond can get her bow & arrows back for her.
May Your Light Forever Shine
What a way...
What a way to end the 19th century... One can only wonder what the 20th century (of episodes of course) will bring.
And, things were going so nicely before.
One does have to wonder where these thugs came from... Do we wonder if it's something from the past... (She's had more than her share of run-ins with folks who skirt the law more the she does... And, with less good intentions.)
Thanks,
Annette
The Police Should...
...take Cathy into custody, put her through the police marksman course, give her a warrant card*, issue her an official weapon and send her home again. Just think of all the paperwork it would save!** Plus, they could keep her on the payroll for a tuppence.
_____________
* A warrant card is official English police identification.
** Save them, anyway. Cathy would have to fill out all the forms herself after the next incident.
I'd maintain that
Cathy should be teaching the police marksmaship course.
If this incident were to make the new
in the UK where we recently saw a "prank" kill a nurse, I suspect she would be called to Buckingham and knighted. Here is a "renascence" woman; a scholar, a teacher, an accomplished actress, a filmmaker, a philanthropist, and a dedicated mother who also is willing and able to defend her family against attackers. She should be everyone's heroine and a spot of good news.
Reread the exchange wiht the inspector. Couldn't help but laugh at Cathy's suggestion for a marksmanship test.
The Mayan Calendar referred to EAFOAB!
Its the 12th paragraph, 21st word of Bike episode 2012 :)
Thats when the world ends :) hehehehe (It's all relative too! Especially Cathy's relatives :)
Sephrena
You know,
I truly respect Britain, and do think they are more civilized than the state, but this is over the top. The moment a knife, or any weapon shows up, their lives are forfeit.
Stupidity
The police in Britain must be as stupid as those here in the states. To charge people with a crime for protecting themselves is really stupid.
Fourteen stone (196 lbs for the colonials)
Please! Why not join the rest of the developed world and use the metric system…
What’s next furlongs per leap year?
Anne Margarete