chapter 4 - the initial inspection

The girls sat down at the formal dining table. Before them were platters of ham, roast, and potatoes that were smothered in butter. As well as cake, pie, rum balls, and breads. The maid sat a very large plate in front of each of them. Yana turned to the maid and asked her, "This is for us?" The maid replied, "Yes you must eat your fill."

The three girls immediately started to cut themselves large slices of ham and roast. They all piled the buttered potatoes onto their plates and passed the bread and butter around. It was all so good. The meat was obviously of very high quality. None of them had ever had good meat before. The potatoes were swimming in melted butter. For their entire lives, butter was rationed. They would have to save it up for weeks just to bake with it. The maid poured them all tall glasses of rich milk.

The three women ate their plates of food, savoring every bite. When they finished the meat and potatoes, they started to get up, already feeling full. The maid stopped them as they started to push away from the table, "You must eat dessert, the governess will be very angry if you don't eat dessert."

The maid cut a slice of cake and a slice of pie for each of them. The cake was a thick Bird's Milk Cake, and the pie was apple. This was the first time any of them had dessert on a day other than Easter. Moreover, they had never had two slices of a dessert at once in their lives. As they started to eat the dessert, the maid placed a handful of rum balls on each of their plates as well.

The governess walked in and paced up and down the table watching them eat. After a couple of minutes, they could eat no more, their desserts not even half finished. It was the first time in their lives they had been full. The governess watched them stair at their plates not eating. She pulled her riding crop and struck the middle of the table with a loud slapping sound and said very sternly, "You must finish your dessert!"

They slowly finished their cake, pie, and rum balls, leaving all of them miserably full. The maid picked up their empty plates and carried them back to the kitchen. The governess looked at them saying, "Come." They all stood and followed her out of the dining room.

They went two doors down the hall and entered into a room that looked almost like a clinic. The floor and walls were ceramic tiled, there was a scale, a height measurement beside it, and a padded table. The governess ordered them, "Take off your robe." She held out her riding crop to show it to them. They pulled the robes off themselves and stood their naked. Yana looked down at her near emaciated body and her full stomach, then looked up at the governess. The governess paced around them, looking them up and down. She went to each girl, poking and pinching at their body and looking at them in absolute disgust.

When she finished inspecting them, she motioned for Yana to stand against the height measurement. She backed up to it. The governess said, "Five foot, 4 inches". She motioned for to stand on the scale. She stood on it. The governess said, "107 pounds".
The governess motioned for the next girl to stand against the height measurement. The governess said, "Five foot, 6 inches". She motioned for her to stand on the scale. She stood on it. The governess said, "113 pounds."

The governess motioned for the last girl to stand against the height measurement. The governess said, "5 foot, 3 inches". She motioned for her to stand on the scale. She stood on it. The governess said, "103 pounds".

The governess showed them all the riding crop again and said, "You must eat more. Do you understand?"

The three girls said in unison, "Yes governess".