Chapter 2: The Open Air Girl!

Katie was in the van for ten minutes, thrown to and fro as the vehicle lurched over the uneven surfaces, and brought frequently into contact with its metal interior. She was more terrified than ever before. Two scowling police officers watched over her as the van continued its rickety way over the potholed streets and she bounced about in sympathy, collecting plenty of bruises, helpless to do much to keep herself steady in her manacled state. Then they arrived at the police station. They dragged the terrified and despairing Katie roughly out of the van, even more roughly up the steps, through the building, her feet scarcely touching the ground, and out into a yard at the rear. Here she was fastened by her ankle to a chain fixed to the ground. The rest of her manacles were removed.

"You can't leave me out here I'll freeze!" protested the naked, shivering Katie.

"We leave you where we damn well like. You don't like it outside and naked why the hell you walk about like that? Bloody whore. This decent country."

And so this dour and scowling upholder of public morals left Katie, financial and economic correspondent of "The Globe and Empire" chained and shivering in the police station yard. She tried to keep warm by exercising herself insofar as she could. She found that by means of this exercise she just about stopped herself from getting too cold. She was cold enough, though! The pain in her hands and feet made her cry in agony. The light was improving and in a few hours the sun would warm her, maybe excessively so if she were kept out here in its full glare.

"Oh, Hell! I hope old Charlie Ford gets my message. Come on, Charlie, come on!"

She and he were not exactly friends, more like rivals. Katie, as a young and up and coming journalist was quicker at getting on to stories than the older and pedestrian Ford, who spent far too much time in bars and not enough time out where the real news was to be found. It must also be said that she had a far more winning manner, with her quick mind and stunning good looks. She guessed he did not like being outclassed by her and might just find this situation rather amusing.

It must have been two hours before any one came to see her. The visitor was a young police woman, who brought out breakfast. Just a cup of coffee a bowl of yoghurt and some newly baked bread. The bread, the coffee and the yoghurt all tasted good and the hot drink brought a bit of life back into her. Katie squatted on the ground to consume them and then resumed her exercises.

Two hours after this, Charlie Ford was escorted out to her and he crouched down beside her, with a police officer watching both of them closely.

"Hi Chas! You look even worse than I feel! But am I glad to see you!"

"Been up all night what with all that booze and something I ate that went through me like a dose of bloody salts. Up and bloody down to that loo for hours. Never would have thought there was that much inside to come out. Only just recovered enough to get round here. Here - you'd better put this on!"

With this he pulled off his top coat and offered it to Katie who was about to accept it with thanks when the policeman shouted "No! No! Bloody whore stay bare till Captain come!"

There was something in this man's manner which compelled obedience - that and the little matter that he was armed and obviously excitable by nature - not the calm and reasonable type.

"Oh! You poor kid!" Charlie said. "I'm cold myself and I've got all this clobber on."

"I'm just about coping, thanks, Charlie. I'll be able to hang on until the Consul gets here and sorts this out. You have got in touch with the Embassy, I hope?"

"First thing I did when I heard about all this. Trouble is I only got hold of the Duty Clerk. Bad time of night to be trying to raise any of those desk-bound wallahs. No one in authority expected until nine. That's two more hours before they hear about this and then they have to apply for consular access - that could take days, although we'll move heaven and earth to get things moving sooner than that. We're all brothers when this kind of thing happens. Don't fret sweetheart - you've a lot of friends here."

The Policeman started to look threatening and Charlie left with an encouraging grin and a thumbs-up sign.

Back to the aerobics and the arm swinging and trying to keep from freezing for another hour and then the air started warming up. By ten, the sun was shining into the yard and by noon Katie was as uncomfortably hot as she had previously been freezing cold. Noon brought a lunch, which was as edible as the breakfast had been. At least they were feeding her well, even if she had to eat with her fingers. She made the police woman understand her need to use the toilet and was released for long enough to do this, then reattached to the clanking degrading chain.

Where was the Police Captain and where was the Consul? Hurry up and get me out of here. The sun was burning her already and the boredom was driving her mad. She hated inactivity!