Sold, Packaged, and Shipped

Chapter 7: Being Packed

First, Mrs. Fisher was picked up and carried to the garage. There, she was set down on a table. There was only a single light bulb in the ceiling, so she could not see what Arnie was doing in the shadows until he rolled a cart into the light. Then she gasped, for on the cart was a coffin!

A cold chill raced down her spine and she began to twist her hands in an effort to pull them out of the ropes. Of course, the ropes held her tightly.

“Oh… Please…. No…” she stammered, eyes wide with fear.

“Oh, don’t worry so. You’ ain’t going be dead. Just sort of pretending to be dead.” He chuckled. “This is about the best way to get a body past airport inspectors and such. They don’t really want to open coffins if the paperwork’s okay. The Boss says he’s done it many times.”

It was a relief to not know that she would be killed first, but still she was very nervous. “How will I breathe in there?” she asked.

“Don’t worry. You’re worth too much to let that happen. There’ll be oxygen bottles in there with you. Be kind of interesting, tho’, being locked in a coffin and all. I hear tell it’s totally dark in there. And, of course, you won’t be able to move much. Probably best if you try to sleep.”

As he was talking, he was also bringing out some additional items from a cardboard box. He put those on the table next to the bound woman.

“Okay, first we gotta gag you. The coffin is pretty soundproof but the Boss says to add a gag. Open your mouth.”

Darlene saw the large sponge in his hand and clamped her lips shut.

going to

still kept

fear, between his thumb and forefinger and squeezed. He also made sure that his fingernails were digging into the

you until you don’t want to be hurt no more.

and accepted the sponge, although not

teeth together,” he

was not hard to compress. It did, however, push

your teeth tight together,” he told her. “Makes this easier for both

of silver-gray duct tape and began wrapping that around her head, over the elastic bandage. He wound it tightly, covering all of her lower head from nose down to chin. When he finally cut the tape with a pair of scissors and

fight him or try to run. She was rubbing her arms where the red pressure marks from the tight ropes showed as he moved the coffin closer. She could see that inside it there were nylon webbing straps attached to the bottom and sides. He picked her up and then set her down inside the coffin. At first she refused to lie down but his superior strength

Straps went around her wrists, above and below her elbows. When that part was finished,

ask him how long she would be in there, but the noises she could make were not very loud, nor intelligible.

coffin jerk and the light

the concrete floor that he had left the garage. Immediately she began struggling against the straps. She pulled and tugged but the held fast.

was still struggling uselessly when she heard Melinda cursing colorfully as she was carried, still hogtied, into the garage. She could not see but could follow what was happening by the sounds. Melinda was set on the table. Then the rope connecting her wrists and ankles was removed. But her arms were left bound behind her with the elbows tightly corded together. She could tell by the way

her that Melinda was being picked up and set down into the coffin. She even heard the cart wheels slide against the concrete. Then there came a loud slap sound. For a second there was silence, but Melinda quickly recovered

but she could guess that Melinda was being strapped down the same as she had been. From the comments she heard, she assumed that he had first untied her legs and strapped them down before doing anything with her arms. If nothing else, Melinda was colorful in her description of Arnie’s past,