1. AT THE BEACH
It was Stephanie's final day in the resort of Dravna. She was due to fly back to England that afternoon with her producer and cameraman.
At 28, Stephanie Jenkins was a rising star of English Television . The dark-haired presenter had started out in children's television and moved on to present a variety of entertainment and documentary programmes. Her talent and beauty made her much sought after by television channels around the country.
It was one of the perks of Stephanie's TV job that, from time to time, she and her fellow presenters were given short assignments to film reports from holiday resorts. She had spent the last two days in this new Eastern European resort on the Black Sea coast. The climate was lovely and the holiday facilities were superb, but Stephanie was appalled at how poor the country was. It had been difficult for her team to film anything useful away from the hotels at the beach-front.
Now that her filming had been done, Stephanie wanted to spend a few hours sunbathing on the beautiful beach. Her colleagues Mike and Kenny were off trying to shoot extra footage.
Stephanie left her hotel dressed in a white bikini with a black and white striped sarong tucked around the waist. On her feet were white canvas shoes and she carried a rolled-up beach towel under her arm. Her clothing showed off her tall and lovely figure to full effect.
She walked the short way from the hotel to the beach but noticed that it was especially busy that day. She decided to walk further up the path running along the beach in the hope of finding a quieter spot.
After walking for about five minutes Stephanie found herself outside of town. The beach was quite deserted, although very beautiful. Stephanie decided to stop and sunbathe here.
She stepped off the path and down a small stairway onto the white sands. She picked a spot and laid out her large beach-towel. She took off her sarong and shoes and lay on her back.
Stephanie lay there blissfully. This was just perfect. With beautiful beaches and a climate like this, there was no way that the fledgling tourism industry could fail to take off in this part of the world.
Suddenly she heard voices all around her. Stephanie opened her eyes to find three policeman shouting angrily and pointing at a sign near the path. They grabbed her by the shoulders and made her stand up. She couldn't understand what they were saying and why they were so angry.
Stephanie tried to speak to them. "Do you speak English? I'm sorry. I don't speak your language."
One of the policeman shrugged his shoulders and pointed towards a police car parked near the path. He gestured to her to pick up her belongings and come with them.
"I'm sorry. I'm English. I didn't know I was doing anything wrong."
She hurriedly put on her shoes and picked up her sarong and towel. The policemen took her up the beach to the car.
2. IN THE POLICE STATION
No-one in the Police Station spoke English and Stephanie was relieved when Yuri, the television crew's local interpreter, arrived.
"Yuri! What is going on? Why have they brought me here?"
Yuri smiled. "Please keep calm. It appears you have trespassed on a private beach not open to tourists. It is not a serious offence. You will be allowed to go soon. "
"But what do they want? Why have they brought my suitcase and things from the hotel? Why have they taken out and counted out all the cash I have?"
"There is a fixed fine to be paid for your trespass. I think it is about fifty of your English pounds. They have checked your belongings and unfortunately you do not have enough of our currency with you to pay this fully. I think maybe you have only about half of what they need."
"But I've got English money and credit cards. Can't I pay with those?"
"No, I'm afraid that that the law decrees that all our fines are paid in cash with our local currency. It is perhaps a silly rule, but our country is not so advanced as yours."
"Can you lend me some money Yuri? I can easily pay you back."
"I would like to do that. Unfortunately it is not allowed. That would be seen to be aiding a criminal act and I, or anyone else, could be put in prison for that. I'm afraid that the fine must be paid from your own cash."
"But I don't have enough. What will they do? Will I go to prison?"
Yuri laughed. "No, no, no. There is no danger of that. It is customary for a fine to be paid by having some of the criminal's belongings auctioned in the town square. When enough is raised to pay the fine you will be allowed to go. For such a small amount of money you should not worry."
"Auction? When will that happen?"
"These are quite normal and take place nearly every day at 2pm in the square. The guys here tell me that there are no other auctions to be held today. They will take us up there in a few minutes and this thing will be sorted out. Please don't worry."
3. IN THE MARKET SQUARE
Stephanie walked up the steps on to the small wooden stage. Yuri followed her.
"Are these handcuffs really necessary, Yuri?"
"I'm sorry Miss Jenkins, but until your fine is paid you are treated as a criminal. It is just the way of our country. "
Stephanie laughed. "Criminal? I only have a fine of about £25 to pay. What would they do if this was something serious?"
Yuri smiled. "It's just the way we do things, like how we can only accept cash. Please be patient. This should not take too long. You will have the handcuffs off in no time and I promise you will be at the airport in plenty time for your flight this afternoon."
Stephanie was directed to the centre of the stage by a grey-haired man in a dishevelled blue suit. They were about three feet above the ground. Around the stage were about fifty locals all watching intently as the beautiful, handcuffed foreigner was presented to them.
"Hello ... Stephanie!" A shout came from the back of the crowd. Standing there were Mike, her producer, and Kenny the young cameraman. They waved to her as Stephanie looked over at them.
Stephanie smiled and turned enough to show her colleagues that she was handcuffed. She faced the front again and shrugged her shoulders. What else could she do?
Stephanie noticed that Kenny was filming. She turned to Yuri. "I can't believe it! They're actually shooting this. I'm going to be a laughing stock when I get home. "
Yuri pointed to a second floor balcony in the building overlooking the square. "They're not the only ones. That's the local television channel up there. They always broadcast these auctions live."
Stephanie looked up to see two men with a large television camera on a tripod. She glanced around the square and noticed a few spectators with camcorders.
"I thought that this was supposed to be a poor country. Where did all the cameras come from?"
A policeman came up on to the stage carrying Stephanie's suitcase. He placed it at the front of the stage and opened it. He then climbed off the stage and took his place at the front of the crowd. He folded his arms and waited for the show to begin.
The man in the suit walked up to Stephanie. He said something to her and urged her forward by touching her back. She walked with him to the front centre of the stage. Yuri followed and remained behind her right shoulder. "He is the Town Mayor. It is his job to make sure that all fines are recovered for the town. " Yuri informed her.
The man spoke into a microphone and his voice came out of loudspeakers placed around the square. He talked and the audience laughed at his comments.
The man reached into the suitcase and pulled out Stephanie's trainers. He held them up to the crowd. A few voices gave their approval and the man started to react as people shouted out. After a few seconds the audience went quiet and the man pointed to someone at the back. A young woman of about twenty stepped forward and gave the man some coins. She was handed the trainers and she walked away smiling. The crowd laughed as she held them up.
Stephanie turned to Yuri. "I hope they fetched a good price, they cost me a packet back in London."
Yuri shook his head. "I'm afraid that the girl only paid about two of your pounds for the shoes.
Stephanie was shocked. "But that's ridiculous! Those are really expensive trainers. They're almost brand new."
"I'm sorry." Yuri replied. "That's the way of these auctions. I'm afraid everybody is here looking for a bargain. Nobody can afford much in this country anyway."
Stephanie shook her head. "If this carries on they'll probably get quite a few of my things from that case before they make enough for my fine."
The man returned to the suitcase and pulled out Stephanie's black dress. She had worn it the night before when they had visited a restaurant at the beach and did the final piece of filming for the report.
"Well, that cost me quite a large part of my clothing allowance for this year." said Stephanie. "If these people know anything about designer labels this should raise enough to finish this silly auction off."
