chapter 12

We continued our walk along the beach, but the carefree joy of our previous conversation had been replaced by, in my case, curiosity which was not helped by Abigail's extreme wariness. It was clear that she felt she had said too much when she mentioned the cages and she refused to be drawn further into a conversation about it, so we walked along in awkward silence.

I was so pleased when the doctor's pager beeped in her pocket. Quickly she took it out and read the message flashing across the screen, and her face immediately changed. Abigail certainly did not like what she saw! Whatever the message was, it made her change her mind about what I was allowed to know. She put the pager away, took my hand and kissed my cheek, which took me completely by surprise. I tried to speak, but was distracted by movement in the trees behind the doctor. I was convinced that I could see something moving, but when I looked, there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary.

"I am going to tell you all about the cages; I am going to explain everything," Abigail said, "but it won't be today. I am needed... er... somewhere." With that, she sprinted along the pathway through the trees; the path which seemed to lead towards the cave in the mountain.

Within seconds, two armed men dressed in military camouflage jumped out of the forest and began to jog along the path behind the doctor, occasionally slipping in and out of the trees. I could see they were keeping her in sight without actually attempting to catch up with her, which I found suspicious, especially as I realised that these men must have been following us and were the source of movement in the trees. I was even more concerned when I realised that each carried a rifle strapped to his back and had a pistol tucked into his belt. I set off after them along the path, although I don't know why: I was not armed and certainly not fast enough or fit enough to catch up with Abigail.

As it turned out, I did not get very far before Prince Khalid came along the path towards me and grabbed my arm. His grip was strong and while it did not hurt me, I knew that I was not going any further along that path. Unlike when we first met, the Prince was wearing a more traditional Arabian dress, with flowing white mishlah robes. He appeared much more comfortable than when he was in his suit.

"Tell me," he said, gently steering me back towards the beach, "how are you finding this island?"

I began saying that I had not really seen anything beyond the beach yet, but once again, it was clear that he was not listening to my replies. He kept looking over his shoulder, although we could no longer see either of the soldiers or Abigail. I stopped talking and when he realised, Prince Khalid nodded at me and smiled. This confirmed he had no idea what I had said, as I went silent mid-sentence.

"Take me back to your beach house," he said. "I would really like to meet your girlfriend."

"Well, she's not really..." I began but the Prince hushed me.

"You want her though, I think?" he said with a smile.

"Well, Carolyn is beyond stunning," I replied. "But she has been through a bad breakup. I think she just wants to be sure."
Khalid nodded. "In my experience, if she wants to be with you, she will be. If she has to be sure..." He noticed the look on my face and added, "I could be wrong; I don't know the girl. But that will change soon."

Not sure how to respond, I asked about Abigail and the soldiers instead.

"I did not see either of these men or Doctor Locke," replied Prince Khalid.

"But you must have done," I replied. "You came down the same pathway and they would have gone straight past you."

"I am not a liar," said the Prince, although I thought he obviously was. However, we did not discuss the matter further as we had reached the house by then and as we walked to the back garden, I could hear Carolyn laughing with Frank. I was filled with jealousy again; I felt cheated as though Carolyn were keeping part of herself from me. This must have shown on my face as Prince Khalid touched my arm and advised me to take a deep breath.

"This man is a servant," he told me. "His job is to make the lady laugh, make the lady relax and make sure she is well looked after. You are the man that brought her here. You are the man that she will thank for that." There was something about the way Khalid grinned as he said this which did not fill me with confidence, but I followed his advice and took a few minutes to compose myself, watching around the corner of the house as I waited.

Carolyn was laid on a slightly raised sun lounger, wearing her sunglasses and totally oblivious to my presence. I watched as she took a deep inhale of her cigarette and a few seconds later blew a cloud of smoke straight up into the air. I was transfixed watching her belly, rounded even though she was laid on her back, rise and fall as she breathed.
Frank appeared out of the kitchen carrying a tray and laid it on the table next to Carolyn. He whispered something to her as he put it down. I did not hear what he said, but I did hear Carolyn laugh loudly again. She sat up as Frank moved away, allowing me to see that the tray contained a red drink and a plate of cupcakes with various coloured icing. Concerned that Carolyn would notice me, I decided to show myself, so I walked into the garden.

"Hi there," I said casually, hoping I did not sound as fake as I felt. "How has your day been so far?"

"I have done absolutely nothing," Carolyn took a final inhale from her cigarette before stubbing out the butt in an ashtray. Immediately, she picked up one of the cakes and took a large bite.

"Ooh - these are so good, Frank," she said. "Can you make them again?"

Khalid put his hand on my shoulder and mouthed "It's his job" at me, reminding me that the servant was only behaving as was expected. Carolyn quickly finished the cake and picked up another one which she also ate in only a few bites. Then she took a sip from the drink, lit another cigarette and laid back down.

"I see you intend to continue doing absolutely nothing," I said, trying to sound jovial, but I was watching Frank picking up the sun cream and knew immediately that he was going to begin rubbing it all over her body.

"Please turn over," he said. "I want to do your back first."

Carolyn flipped herself on the sunbed, laying her chin on her folded arms. Frank undid her bikini top and laid the straps be her side. Immediately, I stepped forward to offer to rub in the sun tan lotion myself, but once again Prince Khalid stopped me. We watched as Frank did not just rub the cream into Carolyn's skin, but massaged all along her back and legs pushing deeply into her body almost as though he were kneading dough. Before long, Frank re-fastened Carolyn's bikini and she turn onto her back again and she turned onto her back again for Frank to repeat the process on her front. Once he was finished, he stepped back, nodding to Prince Khalid who sat on the sun lounger and introduced himself to Carolyn.

"I really wanted to meet you at the airstrip," he said. "You strike me as very special; much better than our usual class of visitor." Khalid pickup up one of the cupcakes and held it to Carolyn's lips, smiling gently at her.

Slowly, she took a small bite, chewed a couple of times and swallowed. Then she licked her lips sensually and opened her mouth inviting Khalid to feed her another bite. In this way, the Prince fed Carolyn all of the cakes on the plate, and she seemed disappointed when they were all gone.

"Do you have any more, Frank?" she whispered, not taking her eyes away from the empty plate.

"Sorry Carolyn," replied the servant. "I should not have given you those really. The doctor told me I had to feed you small, healthy portions." Carolyn laid back, pulled a face and lit another cigarette.

"I am concerned about how much more you are smoking..." I began, but Carolyn just told me to shut up. I was quite taken aback by her sudden hostility and, embarrassed, I looked at Khalid, wondering if he had picked up on her tone. The Prince did not seem to have noticed at all; he was too busy looking at Carolyn's rounded belly, and I could see by the way his fingers were twitching he was fighting the urge to touch it. I recognised in him the same desire in myself and suddenly I began to make connections in my mind.

I signalled for the Prince to join me in the kitchen where we would not be overheard as I tried to make sense the links which I could now see. Abigail's strange advice; the air hostess, Vernon, The Duchess rubbing Carolyn's bum as she "inspected" her; Frank doing everything for her ensuring she barely had to move; the Prince feeding her cakes.

Khalid walked in and I closed the door behind him, but I could no longer contain my anger at the conclusion I had reached.

"You all want her to get fatter!" I shouted.

The Prince nodded and pulled out a copy of the picture of Carolyn before I met her; the one where she was bigger. I demanded to know how he got it.

"That does not matter," he told me. "All you need to know is, by the time we have finished fattening Carolyn, she will look emaciated in this photograph and there is nothing you can do about it!"