chapter 18

I turned around but the door was closed and blocked by two large men. They were not armed, but did not need to be! They were both over six feet tall and their fists seemed to be the size of my head. I turned back to see the Duchess walking towards us, smiling.

"I didn't expect to have two guests," she said taking out the callipers and lifting up my shirt.

"What..." I started, but she put her finger on my lips to silence me and measured a small roll of fat which she pinched on my belly. She was not particularly gentle and I found the whole experience quite embarrassing.

"This is pathetic! What do you think, Doctor?" asked the Duchess, showing the measurement to Abigail, who did not answer. The Duchess shrugged and added, "I am not even going to bother measuring you!"

With a speed I found surprising, the Duchess grabbed Abigail's arm and poked all along it, grunting to herself, and then, unexpectedly, she twisted the doctor round so that her arm was up her back. Abigail yelped and bent forward as the Duchess rammed her arm higher. I stepped forward to separate them, but one of the men from the door grabbed my shoulder and dug his fingers in. Much as I tried, I could not pull away from him, and could only watch as the Duchess forced Abigail towards one of the cages and roughly shoved her through the door. The metal bars slammed behind her, and the Duchess dropped a bolt to secure the cage. The doctor sat on the floor with an expression somewhere between panic and defeat on her face.

"You know the rules, Doctor," said the Duchess smugly. "Once inside the cage, there is no appeal!"
Then she turned to me and poked my belly. "I know what has happened to you," she said. "You've been so busy helping Carolyn over-eat, you haven't noticed how nibbling and sharing her food has affected your own body! Never mind, we'll soon build on this poor start."

"But I thought you only fattened women," I squeaked. Abigail looked at me with disgust and I could see she thought I was utterly worthless; there are no words to describe the shame I felt at myself and her expression only added to the sickening feeling in my stomach.

The Duchess just laughed at me. "It's true that women do fetch a higher price," she agreed, nodding, "but that is only because most of the buyers are men. Gender is irrelevant to me, so I am going to make you my private project. And as for the doctor," the Duchess pointed over her shoulder with her thumb at Abigail, "Well, I just don't like her!"

She opened the door of the cage next to Abigail, and her henchman threw me in as though I were a rag doll. Before I could turn round, I heard the door slam and the bolt slide into place.

"I am going to visit your friend," said the Duchess. "I want to see how she is coming along now she's on phase two. I think she will be very special. This lot," she waved her hand at the huge women in the cages, "have fattened very poorly. They are all flabby and saggy and have no real quality, but I have high hopes for Carolyn." With that she left, followed by her henchmen.

I called to Abigail through the bars between us, but she purposely turned away and ignored me.

"There was nothing I could do," I explained to the back of her head. "I was not able to get away from that gorilla's grip."

"You didn't even make the effort," hissed Abigail without turning. I could tell by the catch in her voice that she was trying not to cry, and then I felt worse than ever. I sat looking at my feet, too ashamed to speak, so Abigail turned and filled the silence.

"But what really made it worse," she hissed angrily, "was your 'only women' comment! If you'd even said 'let her out' or something like that; something that showed you cared about more than yourself!"

"The outcome would be the same..." I began, but Abigail just sighed and repeated once again that I was missing the point. After that, she turned her back again and would not speak to me at all, so we sat in silence until eventually, the Duchess returned.

"How is Carolyn?" I asked, neither realising nor accepting my own predicament.

"Eating well," replied the Duchess. "Katherine is making sure she is full to bursting at all times. I must say, Doctor, that you have come up with an excellent way of getting her to keep herself stuffed. I have never before seen somebody eat so much that she had to lay back in the chair, rubbing her own belly while actually begging for another course! They usually beg to stop!" She laughed and added, "It is such a pity you will never see the outcome of your plan." Abigail did not reply. Ignoring her silence, the Duchess continued,
"but we don't have time to worry about this!" She filled two glasses with some of the pink fruit juice that Frank had given Carolyn and approached the cages.

"I am going to pass this to you," she said. "I expect you to drink it." Abigail looked at it in horror and the Duchess, noticing her expression, just laughed manically.

"The irony that you invented this has not been lost on me," she said to the doctor. "But you either drink it from the glass, or you will have this." She pointed to her henchman, who approached Abigail's cage with one of the feeding tubes and masks and a full gallon of the liquid.

"That's too much," said Abigail quietly. "It's not designed to be given like that!"

"Don't care!" replied the Duchess. "Now drink up." She placed a glass inside each cage and I looked to Abigail hoping for some indication of what to do. The doctor crawled across the floor, picked up her glass and looked at it sadly.
I noticed several servants coming into the building with carts of food. The Duchess did not take her eyes off us, yet was somehow able to command and organise them without looking. I watched for a while, impressed by her skill, until I was brought back to the present when she impatiently banged on the cage bars with the feeding tube.

"Don't make me use this!" she hissed angrily.

Abigail sighed, took a deep breath and drank the glass of fruit juice in one go, wincing as she did so, but within seconds, her face relaxed and she sat back in the cage quietly, smiling to herself. The Duchess turned to me with raised eyebrows and showed me the mask, so I nodded and took a mouthful of the drink.
The first thing I noticed was the thick sweetness of the juice. It was very smooth; similar to mango. This was followed by a strange sensation, not quite burning, but definitely a warmth at the back of my throat. Without thinking, I took another mouthful, and then drained the glass as I did not want this feeling to go away. I quickly realised why Carolyn liked this drink so much. I found myself passing the glass back to the Duchess asking for more, and she happily obliged.

Abigail giggled at me. "You don't want any more!" she said.

"Yes, I do," I laughed and emptied the glass in a couple of large gulps.
"I hope you are hungry," said the Duchess, and I realised that I could not remember the last time I had eaten.

"I am actually," I said. The Duchess smiled at me and I realised how beautiful she was, with her pale skin and black lips. I wanted to do anything to please her. Luckily for me, all she wanted me to do was eat the meal her servants had so lovingly prepared for me, and considering how hungry I was, I knew that I could easily do that for her. I felt so proud of myself.
I looked at Abigail and saw that she was already munching her way through a large bowl of pasta and chicken in a cream sauce. In between each mouthful, she kept muttering "I have to stop," to herself, but she kept going anyway. I thought that was hilarious as I began tucking into my own plate of pasta.

As I ate, the servants placed an amazing looking cake on a trolley, just outside the cage. I kept staring at it longingly, but the Duchess told me that it was only for good piglets who ate all of their dinner. I thought that was a strange thing to say, but did not argue. I just wanted to eat everything she gave me so I could have that cake and show her how much I appreciated all that she did for me.