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On Christmas Eve.
I was so tired on that journey that while they were singing drunken songs, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, they had gone.
The carriage doors were locked, but I escaped through the window.
They had brought me to the coast.
It was a cold, misty night.
But from where I was standing on the clifftop,
I could see my uncle and his gang below on the shore, silent and still.
They were watching the tide coming in, like a beast waiting to pounce.
The mist began to clear.
and a light appeared on a nearby cliff.
At last, the officers the vicar had spoken about were coming.
But my hope disappeared quickly.
Another light appeared out at sea.
This one was moving up and down.
I realised then with horror what was happening.
The light on the cliff was a trap!
A huge black shape appeared out of the darkness.