Gabi woke with a constant drone in her head. As her senses awakened she realised it was the hum of an engine and the sound of tyres on a road. She tried to move. Her hands were tied together behind her back. When she tried to straighten her legs she found her feet and wrists were bound together. Her mouth was dry. It was gagged shut with a piece of tape. She was strung up like a lamb being taken to slaughter.

Panic set in. Get a grip of yourself, she thought. She had been trained to deal with stressful situations. She had never had to put it into practice before now. Think. She managed to raise her head off the shuddering floorboards. In a dim light she could see boxes piled around her, swaying and shifting as the vehicle moved. Some sort of delivery van. No, bigger than that. A lorry. She managed to shuffle closer to one of the boxes. The light was too dim to read the fine print, but she could make out the word ‘Kristiansand.’ What was in Kristiansand? She remembered a couple of family visits when she was younger to the amusement park and zoo. If they were heading there then they were travelling south along the E18 motorway from Oslo.

That was better. Keep calm. She was physically unharmed apart from feeling a bit groggy, and she had an idea where she was heading. How long had she been unconscious? Did anyone even know she had been abducted? Had her abscence been noticed?

The lorry slowed and made a wide turn. Leaving the motorway, Gabi thought. They moved more slowly now, there were more turns and stops, probably traffic lights and junctions. Then they stopped for five minutes, the engine sat in neutral. A security checkpoint? A reception for deliveries. The lorry jerked forward again. A short while later the lorry reversed before coming to a stop.

Gabi heard the cab door open. She followed the feet walking along the side of the lorry. The metal lever that held the shutter closed clanged. Sunlight flooded into the back of the truck as the shutter was thrown open. Gabi winced and tried to adjust her eyes. She heard towers of parcels being moved, pushed and pulled around. A face appeared looking down on her.

‘You shouldn’t be awake yet,’ said Dag Moen, towering over her.

Gabi was helpless to do anything.

‘Night, night.’ He brought his foot down hard on Gabi’s head. Her world went black again.

This is part twelve of my A to Z Challenge 2017. More information on the challenge, and other stories and blogs taking part in it, can be found HERE.

Throughout April I  hope to publish a section a day, relating to a letter of the alphabet, which in the end will make up a continuous story, all based round the objects found in this children’s jigsaw:

Other entries in the challenge, and a version of the final complete, joined up story can be found here: A TO Z CHALLENGE 2017.