chapter 17

As soon as Abigail and her soldiers were safely out of the house, I sat opposite Carolyn who had almost finished the trifle.

"What are you doing?" I hissed, even though we were the only people in the house and there was no need to whisper.

"I wasn't going to give the doctor the satisfaction of being right," replied Carolyn. "Besides, realistically, what can she do? We are here for another week, two at the most. She can't make me conform to her demands when I am back home, can she?"

I suddenly felt really bad. Carolyn had not realised that she was never going home! I toyed with the idea of telling her for a few minutes but decided against it. I would not even know where to begin explaining that, actually, she had been kidnapped. Not recognising my internal struggle, Carolyn just scraped the last of the trifle out of the bowl, smiled at me, excused herself and went off to bed.

Abigail returned early the next morning. I was still in bed myself when she came into the holiday home, once again flanked by two armed guards. The soldiers slammed through my door and without warning, tipped up my bed, throwing me onto the floor.

"What!?" I stammered, still half asleep and panicking. Abigail leaned against the door frame laughing; obviously enjoying my confusion as I sat on the floor, my heart racing in my chest.

"OK boys," Abigail said to the soldiers. "Go wait in the kitchen while I speak to Carolyn. I will need the equipment, so could you leave it outside her door?" As her men walked past she smiled widely and thanked them. Abigail then turned back to me giggling.

"Sorry about that," she said, but her laughter showed that she obviously was not. "I promised to take you on a tour of the island, and today is the day. I expect you to be dressed and ready when I finish with Carolyn." Without another word, she turned on her heel and disappeared from my view.

By the time I was ready, Carolyn was sat at the kitchen table looking nervous. She was dressed in a long cotton dress with an elasticated waist band, and had her hair in a long plait. Abigail was wondering around making notes on her tablet. As I walked in, she raised her eyes to me and acknowledged me with a nod. One of the soldiers pulled out a chair and motioned me to sit down opposite Carolyn.

"I really hoped that Carolyn would have changed her mind overnight," said Abigail sadly, "but this is not the case. So I have taken measurements of her body and weighed her. I am not prepared to share this information with you." Carolyn looked relieved about this. Abigail smiled at her and then continued. "So this is the deal: Carolyn must eat everything she is given without complaint and this will earn her a number of cigarettes. If she wants more, she will have to ask for more food. I will return daily to check on her health and see if she has - hopefully - changed her mind. At the end of the week, I will weigh her again, and if she has gained five pounds or more, we will set a new target for the following week and start again."

"Is five pounds in a week possible?" I asked. "It seems a lot."

"It is possible if she eats enough," Abigail said, sounding almost smug. She turned and waved out of the window and the servants began to bring in breakfast, piling pancakes on the table in front of Carolyn. I noticed they were dripping with butter and maple syrup. They also put a dish of bacon and sausages on the table followed by a large bowl of cereals and yoghurt.

"This is Katherine." Abigail introduced a middle aged, stern looking woman, with greying hair pulled into a tight bun. "She will be your housekeeper, ensuring you stick to your part of the deal. She will also need to give you regular massages. She has been trained in exactly the same way as..." Abigail looked angry and almost spat the name, "Frank."

"Where is Frank?" asked Carolyn.

"Indisposed!" replied Abigail in a tone which made it clear that there would be no more discussion on the matter. The doctor then turned to me. "Are you ready?" she asked. I stood up and nodded, and as we left, I noticed Abigail hold up three fingers to Katherine. Carolyn also saw this and looked at the huge breakfast in front of her.

"Only three?" she gasped, looking like she was going to cry.

"It's not meant to be easy!" snapped Katherine, and I could see Carolyn's discomfort as the housekeeper's eyes drilled into her, watching as she began to eat.

As Abigail and I left the house, she warned me not to speak unless somebody spoke to me first. I was nervous as we approached the two guards on the path to the beach. This time though, instead of blocking my path, they stood to one side and let me pass. I thought it may be that we had another pair of soldiers following us. It still felt strangely liberating to be out on the beach again. Abigail led me to the edge of the jungle where the path split; one branch leading deep into the trees. She stopped here and turned to me.

"So, I guess you have questions?" Abigail sat on the edge of the path and began playing with the sand. I sat next to her and opened my mouth but no sound came out. I just had no idea how to put the words I needed together! The doctor saw the expression on my face and laughed again.

"Alright, let me tell you what I think you need to know," she said. I just nodded dumbly.

Abigail cleared her throat and began. "The employers you work for... WE work for... are people traffickers. I gather you already know that? And by now, you should have realised that we have a very specific niche in the market."

"Fat women?" I made it sound like a question, but actually, it was not. Abigail nodded.

"So we get your women here and for the first few days, we force feed them, we starve them, we give them sugars and fats, we give them healthy food. We also wait on them to make sure they only do the bare minimum for themselves. Basically we ruin their metabolism and make them incredibly lazy so that all they want to do is lay around and eat." I had seen this done to Carolyn and it certainly had an effect on her body. I had noticed how she had quickly gained weight.

"And what is the sun tan lotion?" I asked remembering Frank's comments.

"One of my inventions," replied Abigail proudly. "A moisturiser containing a mixture of nutrients and vitamins. It keeps the skin supple and reduces stretch marks. Carolyn is going to be eating a lot more now she is on Phase Two!" She smiled at me and I knew that was all the information I was getting for the time being.

Abigail stood and nodded to the two guards. "Prince Khalid has his people follow me around all over. They are like my personal servants and will do everything I ask them to... except leave me alone!"

She motioned me to rise and mouthed "Ready?" I looked at her with a puzzled expression, but she didn't notice; she was watching the two soldiers intently. Suddenly, she turned and ran at high speed into the jungle, quickly turning off the path and running between the trees. Bewildered, I chased after and a few seconds later, I heard the guards shout and begin crashing through the undergrowth behind me.
Abigail slowed, grabbed my hand and dragged me down a small embankment. At the bottom, we crawled into a hollow and she put her finger on her lips as above we heard the soldiers pushing their way through the jungle and shouting to each other in a language I did not understand. We waited for at least ten minutes after their voices faded into the distance.

"Come on. I can show you the cages now," whispered Abigail.

Slowly, we climbed back to the path and the doctor led me through the jungle towards the centre of the island but we turned off down a smaller track which took us to a series of buildings which I could only compare to barns. Abigail opened the door and I was horrified by the site before me. Cages filled the walls, stacked three high. Many were empty, but those that were not housed hugely obese women, all naked and shut in like battery hens; barely able to move.
Some had large troughs attached to their cages and were laid on their sides mindlessly stuffing food into their fat faces. Others had tubes attached to masks which covered their nose and mouth. These masks appeared to be both breathing for them and feeding them.

"If they won't eat, we have to force feed them." Said Abigail coldly. "Got to keep them nicely stuffed."

From the corner of my eye, I noticed a familiar figure walking around the cages with a pair of callipers, measuring the fatness of the women. I nudged Abigail and pointed out the Duchess who did not appear to have seen us. Abigail swore quietly and nodded towards the exit. We slowly began edging towards the door, but suddenly heard it slam behind us.

Without turning, the Duchess called out, "Alone at last are you? How nice of you to join me, Doctor Locke."