chapter 27

Frank and Katherine climbed onto the front of the cart and drove it away, ignoring Carolyn's shouting and cursing behind them. Abigail slipped her arm through mine and we followed along behind the cart. The doctor was talking about how well Carolyn had fattened and what a good price she would bring. I was not really listening though; I was distracted as Carolyn kept glaring back at me through the bars of the cage.

The two armed guards outside our house waited for us to pass and then walked behind us; a bizarre procession all the way to the barn in the jungle. Once we arrived, the cart was unhitched and backed into the barn, where chains were attached to the cage. Frank began turning wheels on the wall and, through a pulley system, the chains were tightened and the cage was lifted. Carolyn squealed as she swung about in the air, but using the wheels and guided by a few of the people who had been working as servants in our house, the cage was slowly moved across the barn and gently dropped into position.

As soon as it was in place, Katherine wasted no time in organising a delivery of cakes and pastries which were pushed into the cage. Carolyn shook her head at the housekeeper and moved into the corner as far away from the food as possible. It seemed that she had finally realised what had been happening to her and that the amount of weight she had gained was not accidental.

"Don't fight it," said Katherine. "You are hungry, so eat."

Carolyn rubbed her belly, tears in her eyes. I could see the conflict on her face as she battled the painful emptiness in her stomach. It was a battle we all knew she could not win. As we watched, she cracked, crawled across the cage and began shoving a muffin in her mouth. Another followed, and then a croissant. It was incredibly erotic. I believe Abigail thought so too; she slid her hand into mine and squeezed as we watched Carolyn demolish the pile of cakes and sit back looking satisfied but horrified at the same time.

Katherine motioned for one of the servants to empty the cage and then demanded that Carolyn move across to her. Slowly, Carolyn dragged herself towards the bars, and when she was close enough, Katherine reached through and poked her belly, pushing her finger into the fatness until Carolyn yelped in pain. Katherine nodded and said something I did not hear to the servants who grabbed Carolyn's arms and chained them to the bars with manacles.

Katherine then brought out a mask of the same design that I saw The Duchess threaten Abigail with earlier. Ignoring Carolyn's pleas, the housekeeper slotted the mask over her head and fastened it tightly at the back. A special fitting clipped over her nose with a screw and clip attached. Katherine began turning the screw, which tightened the clip, and this gently nipped Carolyn's nostrils shut forcing her to open her mouth to breath. As soon as she did, Katherine slammed something like a snorkel between her teeth and attached it to the front to the mask. There was no way Carolyn could remove the tube; nor could she close her mouth.

"I designed that," Abigail told me proudly.

Katherine attached several connectors to the tube sticking out of Carolyn's mouth and then gently tilted her head back, locked the mask against the bars of the cage to hold it in place.

"Carolyn's head is at the optimum angle for swallowing now," Abigail explained. "The items which Katherine has connected have a very clever valve arrangement - even if I say so myself." I watched as a long pipe was led from one of the connectors, out the top of the cage and connected to a large vat above Carolyn. Katherine looked to Abigail who gave her a thumbs up. The housekeeper nodded and clicked a small switch. Immediately, a thick, yellowish liquid began to flow down the tube. It was quite thick and so did not travel fast, but gravity and pressure ensured it did not stop. I watched Carolyn's eyes widen as it began to fill her mouth, but as Abigail had said, the angle of her head and the valve arrangement gave her very little option but to swallow.

"Come on then," said Abigail. "There is nothing to do here now. That will keep Carolyn's stomach stretched and make sure she continues to gain weight. We'll come back in time for her next meal."

"Is this another one of your inventions?" I asked. Abigail nodded with a wide smile, clearly pleased with herself.

"It's a mixture of pure fats, simple carbohydrates and sugars," replied the doctor. "It has absolutely minimal nutritional value, but will fill Carolyn's stomach with an incredibly fattening mixture which is quickly digested and will leave her feeling ravenous. We've got to make sure she stays fat for market!"

I could see tears running down Carolyn's face as she was pumped full of this liquid.

"But... She'll burst!" I said. "Abigail - you can't do this to her!" Katherine walked up to me shaking her head.

"We do know what we are doing," said the housekeeper. "I know exactly how much Carolyn's stomach can take. Besides, the issue is not with her belly; you should be more worried about her choking."
Katherine laughed and left the barn.

I turned to Abigail and began to speak, but she just gave my shoulder a friendly slap.

"She's teasing you," said the doctor. "The amount of liquid passing into Carolyn's mouth is measured and at the right time the valves change, stopping that flow and allowing air in. Carolyn has to swallow or she will not be able to breathe, but it is unlikely she will choke. There are a lot of checks built into the design to make sure that doesn't happen, and there is always somebody floating around in the barn making sure our girls are comfortable." She grinned as she said this. "Don't worry about Carolyn, she is in good hands."

Abigail took me through to a part of the island I had not seen before, further down the path from the barns, and directly under the cave I had noticed when I first arrived. There was a large building here like a small luxury hotel. We went into the bar and looking around, I could see people of all nationalities, all clearly very rich. Some sat in small groups laughing, others sat alone watching everybody else in the room suspiciously. All of them acknowledged Abigail as she walked in.

"It's a full house," muttered the doctor as we sat down at an empty table. "That's good news for your commission!" Before I could answer, Abigail stood, banged on the table and cleared her throat.

"Thank you all for coming," she said. "As always, we have some amazing livestock for the auction, but this month, we have one very special specimen." As one, the people in the bar turned to look at a screen on the back wall, and Abigail did something on her tablet. A picture of Carolyn, around the time I first met her, flicked up and there was a collective gasp.

"This subject has a natural greed and a highly addictive personality. She has happily force-fed herself into morbid obesity and is even now in the finishing barn being tubed. She will be a very large asset to your collection." The group laughed at her pathetic pun. "This subject will be available for viewing after her evening feed." As Abigail sat down again, I felt the atmosphere of the room change; there was a buzz of excitement in the room.

We spent the next few hours being constantly bombarded with questions about Carolyn, but Prince Khaled and The Duchess were the two most interested parties. When not talking to us, I could see them mingling with the other buyers, laughing just a little too loudly.

"Nobody can compete with those two financially," whispered Abigail. "Come on. Let's leave them to it and go view Carolyn's next feeding."

As we entered the barn, Carolyn was having the mask removed. Her stomach was swollen and when Katherine poked it, seemed almost solid. I watched in disbelief as the servants wheeled through a cart loaded with slices of apple pie, each huge slice was swimming in cream and piled high with ice-cream.
Carolyn looked at it and shook her head. "I can't" she muttered. Katherine ignored her and unlocked the manacles, releasing Carolyn's hands and then began placing the desserts into the cage.

"I said that I am full!" shouted Carolyn.

"Well, you are going to spend the next 24 hours stuffed to bursting point," replied Katherine impassively. "You can either force feed yourself or you can spend the whole time on the tube, but either way this belly is going to be full to the brim."