At the top of our street begins a trail that wends it way through the hills for miles. I often take a walk there, and this is what I was doing on the day that my story is concerned with.
My husband, Jim, was away on a fishing trip for a few days, taking our two boys, Jamie and Tony with him. Left alone I decided on a walk along the trail for a few hours. I packed some sandwiches and taking a bottle of water, I set out.
It was a beautiful day with the sun shining but not too hot. The leaves on the trees glittered and wild flowers were out everywhere, and I wondered why more people didn't make use of the trail. In all my walks, I only occasionally met others. It seems that people prefer to use exercise bikes and other equipment, instead of getting out of the house and walking in the fresh air.
I had been walking for about an hour and a half when I had the feeling that I was being watched and followed. I looked round a number of times and saw nobody, but the feeling persisted. I put it down to imagination and in any case was not particularly fearful. I had trained in some martial arts and was very fit, and felt confidant I could defend myself if need be.
After a couple of hours and about the point I intended to turn back, I decided on a rest. I sat down on the grass under the shade of a tree, and having eaten my sandwiches, I lay back for a while. I must have dozed off, when I was awakened by a slight sound nearby, I think it was the rustle of a bush.
I thought it might be some small animal, but when I looked up, I saw three boys over 18 years of age standing about ten yards away, looking at me. I was startled, but not scared. I said, "Hello," and the one who seemed the oldest of the three said, "Hi."
Two of them were quite tall and well built, while the third was smaller and looked a little anxious. I got the feeling he might take to his heels and run any moment. All three stood there silent, looking at me.
"Out for a walk?" I asked, in an attempt to break the silence.
"Sort of," replied the one who had said, "Hi."
"It's a good day for it," I continued. He gave a sort of snigger and said, "Yeh, a good day for all sorts of things."
I didn't much care for his manner, but decided to ignore it, and went on, "Going far?"
"Nope," he said, and walked over to me.
There was an air of menace about him, so I said, "Well, I must be on my way." I started to rise, and as I did so he put his hand on my shoulder and pushed me down. I protested loudly at this, "What the hell do you think your doing?"
"You'll find out," he sneered.
I went to rise again, but this time I was ready for him. As his hand reached for my shoulder he was slightly off balance. I grabbed his wrist with both hands, twisted, and as he fell, I kicked out at him and made contact with his shin. He squawked as he went down and rolled away grasping his shin.
I was on my feet in a flash and looking at the other two and said quietly, "There's plenty more where that came from, anybody want some of it?"
They backed off a little, and the small boy said, "Sorry lady, we just wanted to…"
"Shut up, idiot," snarled the boy on he ground."
"I know what you wanted," I snapped, "And how much do you think you'd have enjoyed it if you had got what you think you want?"
I felt myself to be in control of the situation, so decided on a bit of bravado. I sat down again and, pointing to a spot a couple of yards in front of me said, "You three, sit down there."
The boy whose shin I had kicked crawled to where I had pointed, and the other two joined him. Perhaps I should have left them, and I wasn't sure what I wanted to say or do, but I admit I was a bit fascinated by the situation.
Clearly, their intention had been to rape me, but in choosing someone capable of defending herself, they had made a bad error. Once the boy who was clearly the leader had been downed, the other two had no stomach for continuing the attempt. Perhaps they never had really wanted to rape, but didn't understand how they could get a woman without using force. I was starting to feel a bit sorry for them.
They sat there looking thoroughly abashed, so I started off, "So, you were going to rape me!"
"No…well…we…we thought…" mumbled the boy who has said nothing so far.
"I suggest that thinking was what you didn't do," I cut in.
"We didn't want to hurt you," the small boy said, "We just wanted to do it with you."