How I learned to stop worrying and love escapology (F/F)

[Stiletto Amore]

It’s probably fair to say I wasn’t a typical girl growing up.

For one thing, unlike my friends, whose bedrooms were covered with images of boy bands in various states of undress, I was obsessed with escapology and the only pictures on my wall was a full sized poster of Harry Houdini and some Nancy Drew book covers.

I borrowed heaps of library books about the Great Man, reading about his career and studying his techniques.

In my childhood fantasies I was always the school girl detective, no bond could hold me and no gag could silence me. I learned how to pick locks and practised on bicycle chains and padlocks I liberated from my Father’s tool shed. Eventually I graduated to a pair of actual handcuffs I found at an old flea market and after a great deal of good natured pestering managed to bully my Mother into buying them for me (I told her it was for a Halloween costume)

“But Sam, it’s only March!” she replied, not unreasonably

Nonetheless she consented to the purchase and I spent the next few months learning how to unfasten the lock using a hair pin.

Eventually, I became so confident in my skills that I decided that I wanted to demonstrate my new found ability by performing a great escape in public.

Feeling suitably emboldened I invited all the kids in the street to collect all the ropes, chains and padlocks they could find in their house and meet me in the shed at the foot of our garden.

They came in their droves, their arms laden with various ropes and leather belts.

They came with dog leashes and old skipping ropes frayed at the edges.

They came with rusty iron chains that had been left outside for far too long.

One boy even bought what looked suspiciously like a ball gag he had found at the bottom of his parents wardrobe (“Eww, gross”)

In the end, the shed became so packed that we had to move the show outside to accommodate all of our neighbours who wanted to see me get tied up (and maybe, possibly escape)

I had somehow persuaded/ begged/ cajoled my parents to act as my glamorous assistants for the day. As the head of security Dad had been squeezed into an ill fitting black suit, whilst my Mother (who was nominally there to supervise the tying up) was dressed in a rather fetching black ball gown with elbow length gloves.

In case you were wondering, I was dressed in an early version of my magician’s outfit.

It consisted of a black leotard worn under one of my starched school shirts, a bright red bow tie (sadly only a clip on I stole from my Dad) a pair of red high heeled shoes (liberated from my Mom's wardrobe) and some old fishnets stockings I found in a charity shop.

“Are you sure about this?” My Mother whispered in my ear sounding more than a little concerned as we watched the garden fill up with children all of whom clutching various ropes and chains.

“Of course I’m sure!” I said boldly with a confidence I no longer felt “after all, I put the Amazing, in the ‘Amazing Wanda’”

That said, there really was an awfully big crowd and the pile of binding material was threatening to block out the Sun,..

Eventually Dad had to stop anyone else coming in through the gate in the fence.

It was my first ever show and we were turning people away at the door.

I was a hit.

Now there was just the small matter of the escape,..

I began with a short speech thanking everyone for coming to my magic show, I talked about my love of escapology and told a few stories about my life and times as a school girl detective, then when I saw the audience were beginning to lose interest I scanned the crowd in search of a volunteer to come and tie me up.

Eventually my eyes fell upon a pretty young woman in glasses and a shaved undercut sat in the very front row. With her heavy black work boots, tartan trousers and orange sweater she looked like someone who knew her way around a knot and the fact that she had her hand high in the air suggested that she would be a more than willing participant.

In short, she was someone I needed in my life.

Breathlessly I made my introductions.

Apparently her name was Velma,

“But you can call me Vee” She offered with a smile.

“Well Vee, how would you like to tie me up?”

“Oh, I think I would like that very much” She said rather too eagerly.

My instincts were right - this was my kind of girl.

“Do you want me to use all of these?” She said, pointing to the pile of binding materials.

“That might be a little excessive” I said with a smile “There’s enough here to restrain a small army”

“It’s funny you say that,” She said holding up a length of rusted chain “some of these look like they date from before the Boer War”

“Hmm, maybe don’t use anything that looks like it was made of tetanus” I suggested warmly.

“Good note” Vee agreed “Maybe I should limit myself to five items or less?”

“Like in the supermarket?” I said laughing

“Well, it might give you more of a sporting chance. I’m pretty good at tying knots”

“You certainly talk a good game. But let’s see how good your skills really are” I said handing her the cord from an old dressing gown before placing my hands behind my back.

“Okay, you asked for it” She said as I felt her wrap the rope around my crossed wrists as many times as it would go before knotting them.

The final tug was so fierce that I almost toppled over into the audience.

“How's that?” She inquired, sounding quite pleased with her efforts.

“Pretty good” I said, bringing my arms out from behind my back “But your technique could probably use a bit of work”

“How did you do that?” She cooed admiringly

“The same way you get to Carnegie Hall”

“I’m sorry?”

“It’s an old vaudeville joke. How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice. Practise. Practise”

“Oh, I see. Very clever”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But to answer your question truthfully - I read a lot of books on the subject and I spent a great deal of time getting people to tie me up”

“What an interesting childhood you must have had” Velma mused with an enigmatic grin.

“Haha! They say it’s good to have a hobby”

“Some people collect stamps”

“So I understand” I replied wryly.

“Okay” She said rifling through the items like a shopper digging through the discount racks in JC Penny “Five items it is”

After a bit of searching Velma selected a pair of manacles, some coils of rope, and a thick leather belt.

“Okay Wanda, hands behind your back” She said, holding up the set of police issue handcuffs.

“What am I being arrested for Officer?” I asked as I duly complied with her instructions.

“We can start with crimes against fashion” She said clamping the chains in place around my wrists

“You don’t like my outfit” I said, in a mock offended tone “I’m hurt”

“It’s not that I don’t like it per se, it’s just that you look like you got tangled up in a magicians washing line”

“Haha! How very dare you?! Besides, you’re one to talk - you seem to be wearing two hair cuts simultaneously. Like - pick one already”

“Touche” She said, tightening my restraints (presumably as punishment)

Actually, I really liked her hair, but I never could resist the opportunity to score cheap points.

Remembering the breathing techniques I had read about in the many books about Houdini I flexed what little muscles I had as my new best friend trussed me up like a Thanksgiving bird.

In truth some of the bonds were a little slack, but at its heart was a tight tangle of metal and cord, a firm pressure that pressed through my costume and onto my flesh. However, despite my obvious discomfort I felt a strange excitement in my stomach.

I was finally living out my fantasy of being tied up in public.

“All done?” I teased as she tightened up the last of my restraints.

“I think that will suffice for now” She said with a manic grin “Is it okay? It’s not too tight is it?”

“Well, that’s rather the point isn’t it? But no, it’s fine. In fact you did a most commendable job”

“Thank you kindly” She said, performing a little curtsy

“But aren’t you forgetting something?”

“I’m not sure I follow”

“Well aren’t you going to gag me?” I asked, trying not to sound too excited at the prospect.

“Would you like a gag?” She asked.

“Well, it isn’t a matter of if I want a gag

(I lied. It totally was)

“But we know that Houdini often liked to conceal lock picks in the corner of his mouth,..”

“Really?! That's disgusting. Well, we wouldn’t want you to try that now would we,..” and with that Velma reached into her handbag and pulled out a bright pink bandanna.

That’s interesting, I thought to myself, I wonder if she bought that scarf with her especially.

“Open wide”

Naturally I was eager to comply and offered no resistance as she pulled the material taut between my teeth and knotted it firmly at the back of my head.

“Is that okay? Did I do it right?” Velma asked, mistaking my silence for some form of outrage.

“It’s gnn, N mean, yes, it’s fine. Mrm,.. Phanks?” I spluttered through my gag.

“Haha! Well, I’m glad you like it” She teased, causing me to blush several shades of deep crimson “Okay Wanda. Let’s see what you’ve got”

I grinned behind my gag as Velma retreated to stand off to the side of the stage.

I knew I had to get my hands free in order to stand any chance of escaping and that meant finding some slack from somewhere first. With all the great swathes of rope wrapped around me there was bound to be a few weak links somewhere.

I tugged on the cord experimentally, looking closely to see which of the visible ropes across my front were tightening. The strategy was straightforward but painfully slow.

After several abortive attempts I was finally able to retrieve the small lock pick from inside the sleeve of my school blouse. Of course it soon transpired that genuine police handcuffs are not as easy to unfasten as the play set I had been practising on but nonetheless after fifteen minutes of frantic struggles I finally snapped them free.

However, whilst my hands were now loose, the tangle of ropes and cords around my arms prevented me from simply reaching around and unfastening my bonds from the front.

Instead I had to work slowly and methodically to follow each successive coil and separate it from it’s neighbours.

Eventually the pressure of the ropes loosened enough that I was finally able to push the thick mess of ropes over my head and, after another brief struggle, slipped free of the remainder of my bonds.

Although a few of the younger children had gotten bored waiting to see me escape there was still a sizeable crowd when I finally took my bows 40 minutes after first getting tied up.

“Thanks for your help earlier” I said as I sat chatting to Velma after the show.

The crowd had finally dispersed and the two of us were left clearing up.

“I assure you it was my pleasure” Velma replied with a lopsided grin “So, was that true what you were saying before on stage?”

“Which part?”

“The part where you revealed you were a famous school girl detective”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say ‘famous’ necessarily,..” I said with false modesty

“And did you really catch a gang of bloodthirsty pirates all on your own?”

“Well, I don’t like to brag,..” (I lied)

“Even after they tied you to a rock and left you to drown”

“Ah, well you see,..fortunately the Sun was out and I was able to reach my magnifying glass and use it the light of the Sun to burn the ropes”

“Like burning ants?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Isn’t that what bad little boys do? Burning ants with a magnifying glass?”

“That’s horrid”

“Agreed. Still, it was pretty ingenious of you to think of that whilst you were tied up. And what about the other story you mentioned - where you thwarted a gang OAP’s running an opium den out of their care home. Was that true as well?”

“Of course” I said proudly “When they caught me snooping around they wrapped me up like an Egyptian mummy using their knitting”

“That sounds like it might be incredibly itchy” Vee said laughing

“It was soo itchy” I confided.

“I can only imagine. And did you really once rescue a submarine by tapping out morse code on a lighthouse?"

"Which is not easy with your hands tied behind your back" I assured her.

"I believe you. Say, Wanda. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"Not at all, although Wanda's only my stage name - my real names Samantha - but my friends call me Sam"

"Ok Sam, I was just wondering does this kind of thing happen to you a lot?”

“What ‘kind of thing?’”

“The bondage”

“Exsqueeze me” I said, pretending, and failing, to sound surprised/ upset/ offended.

“Oh come on now Wanda, are you saying you hadn’t noticed that all of your stories involve ropes and gags”

“Ha! Well, I guess, now that you mention it,..” I floundered

“So, to repeat the question, do you get tied up a lot?"

“Define ‘a lot’?” I said with an inscrutable grin

“That much eh?! Ha! I knew it!”

I couldn’t help but laugh

“Okay, you caught me, but at least know you see why I practise so much at home”

“Oh” She appeared to consider this for a minute “Well, erm, Sam,.. if you’re ever in the market for someone to help on one of your cases,..”

“You’re volunteering your services?”

“Maybe. I mean, are you looking to hire an (un)glamorous assistant?”

“Well, I couldn’t afford to pay you a wage”

“That’s okay. I don’t think John Watson ever drew a wage for his extracurricular work with Holmes”

“Hmm, so does this mean I have to get myself a deerstalker? Which reminds me,” I said untying the pink bandanna from around my neck “Thanks for the loan”

“My pleasure” she said stuffing the sodden cloth back into her handbag

“And you don’t mind that we will almost certainly spend most of our time locked up in some dank basement”

“Mind?! I’d insist upon it”

“Haha! Excellent. You know Vee, I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship,..”

[Nainur]

Lovely read! Very detailed and nice building-up!

[Reidy]

Always enjoy reading your stories. Makes me wish I could get captured with you.

[slackywacky]

Great read, thank you.

[Stiletto Amore]

Lovely read! Very detailed and nice building-up!

Thanks so much. Really glad you enjoyed it!

[Stiletto Amore]

Always enjoy reading your stories. Makes me wish I could get captured with you.

That's awesome. Thanks for being so supportive.
You could always write a crossover story,..?

[Stiletto Amore]

Great read, thank you.

That's very kind, thank you

[Dpsiic]

Awesome story, I hope it leads to more adventures for Sam and Velma

[OldTUGger]

Nicely written!

[CarouselCowboy13]

Awesome and Cool Story

[Stiletto Amore]

Awesome story, I hope it leads to more adventures for Sam and Velma

So glad you liked it - thanks for taking the time to comment

[Stiletto Amore]

Nicely written!

Thank you. Super happy you enjoyed it!

[Stiletto Amore]

Awesome and Cool Story

Yay! Thank you so much!

[TightsBound]

This was an excellently written story. And I love that you set it up for a franchise. More adventures featuring this new dynamic duo would be great. Thanks for writing!

[Canuck100]

This is such a great story! I loved the tone and the dialogue. I hope there will be more chapters!

[CarouselCowboy13]

Awesome and Cool Story

Yay! Thank you so much!

You're welcome!!!

[scarfgagged]

Loving it so far...
I think Wanda stole Velmas scarf...