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Isobel fetched a long cerise scarf which she wound round my wrists behind my back. I pleaded with Steve to let me go, but he held onto me, crushing my hands painfully against the wall while I looked around in desperation for a means of escape. Only then did I realise that Poppy had vanished; she must have slipped out through the front door before Steve had slammed it shut. I hoped she would have a better chance of survival on her own, than in the house with my captors. Poppy’s absence made me more determined than ever to escape and find her before she could come to harm, but my options were now severely limited. All I could do was endeavour to control my terror, while I watched and waited for an opportunity to escape.
‘So we’ve got her hands tied,’ Steve said, watching Isobel with som
