The large isolated estate was a finishing establishment for young ladies who came from wealthy and selected families and being expected to marry into the higher echelons of society were all virgins. 18 of them having finished their course would soon be going to their coming out presentation. Because these young ladies had no contact with men, all the staff was women, the teachers, the cooks, and cleaners and if it were necessary any men from the village were closely vetted before working on the premises. Even when the girls returned to their homes on holidays, the parents had to promise they would have no physical contact with men.

As a final part of their course and to widen their experiences they would be entitled to go on a world tour chaperoned by two older women a Miss Peppa and Miss Roberta both of whom, not many years ago, had previously attended the college. Miss Peppa asked who would be going and 10 girls said yes, of the other 8, 4 would be on holiday with their parents 2 going to university and 2 starting work in the family business. The big day arrived and Peppa with Roberta, supervised the girls and their luggage into the luxurious coach, which would be their home when no hotels were available. With only 12 passengers there was plenty of room, the seats folded back for sleeping. It had a built-in toilet together with a small kitchen for preparing light meals, items for this they could buy before leaving the big towns.

Four weeks later they had travelled through Europe and would now be in the Middle East deserts for three days before the next big stop. Not long after the start of the second day and passing a car, which had gone off the track, the driver said he should back up and help. When the coach stopped a man came from nowhere and opening the door pulled the driver out while at the same time another man holding a machine pistol opened the emergency door.

Peppa stood up and as she was about to ask him what he thought he was doing she saw the driver being pushed behind a sand dune then they all heard a shot. This started all the girls crying and screaming in fear but as both Peppa and Roberta approached the man with the pistol he fired a burst through the open door and told them to sit down and keep the girls quiet.

The man they thought had shot the driver now returned, sat in the driving seat, started the engine and drove the bus down the track. With the girls crying and sobbing the driver told Roberta and Peppa to keep them quiet, but it was not long before the coach stopped by a closed in van, then with the driver telling everyone to climb in the back of it the crying started again.

There was not a lot of room inside and the females were quite close together so after driving for some time over rough ground and being bounced about it got very hot and uncomfortable. When some of the girls wanted the toilet Peppa knocked on the cab asking them to stop but they took no notice. When it did stop the door opened and the females were told to get out. It was a small walled village and the men told them to stand in a line with Peppa one end Roberta at the other in the centre of a group of houses. They were kept there for some time and with the two men shouting words they did not understand they were all afraid to move. Several of the girls said to the teachers they could not hold themselves any longer and having wet themselves started crying.

When a third man arrived they were surprised to see it was the driver, who was supposed had been shot. He stood in front of the females and said they had all been kidnapped and having wealthy families were being held for ransom. The village was virtually unknown, even in the war it had never been found so the chances of them being found were nil and the school had been notified that the ransom money has to be put in a Swiss bank account within three days.