Pt 6

“Well, this is it!” Jessica took a deep breath and glanced over at April who seemed to be a picture of confidence, despite how important this moment was for them. She had known the taller girl for long enough to know that she would be just as nervous as she was below the surface but was very good at assuming a mask of confidence when the situation called for it.

The organisers and judges were assembled, a curious crowd of onlookers made up of the public and other contestants gathered behind them. All were waiting to see how well the simple slow-cooking device had worked. Multiple cameras and phones were focussed on the girls, stood behind the box, including a very large one being held by the official cameraman of the event. Obviously Penny could not be the one to do the talking this time so April began.

“Ladies and gentlemen, judges and organisers, thank you for coming to our presentation.” She paused for the polite smattering of applause that followed. “As you will see from the video section of the presentation,” she indicated the screen which had been muted but was still playing, the time-stamps clearly visible in the bottom left corner, “our subject, Penny, has been cooking for several hours and was alive and fully cooperative when the process began.” She removed the slightly damp rolled towel which covered her late friend’s face. Penny looked serene, as if enjoying a lovely dream. Other than some redness, nobody would be able to tell from looking at her head that her body was thoroughly cooked. Of course, this meant there was no way Jessica and April could know for sure whether their device had worked effectively. There was no reason why it should not have done but this was, after all, the first test on anything bigger than a fish! “Oh well,” April whispered under her breath, “moment of truth!”

Working together, the two girls lifted the lid off the box and set it on its end, upright, at one end of the table. There was a feeling of warmth that hit their faces, like leaving an air-conditioned building and going out onto the street on a hot day but it was not hot like opening an oven. With a small garden tool, April gently raked the top layer of compost, careful not to push too deep and risk puncturing the foil.

“As you can see,” April continued with almost audible relief, “the charcoal layer is now spent and reduced to ash. While it is still warm, it is no melting or fire risk and can simply be mixed in with the compost for the next use.” As practised, Jessica retrieved a large builder’s bag and set it at on the floor at the end of the table. At the other end, below the head-shelf and technically under Penny’s shoulders, April slid a small, wedge-shaped metal device with a crank-handle. As she turned the handle, the wedge expanded like a car jack and lifted the box to an angle of about twenty degrees. One this was done, Jessica lifted the upper section of the foot of the box out of its grooves and a small shower of compost tumbled into the waiting bag. Carefully, using brushes from a dust-pan and brush set, the two girls swept the warm mix of compost and grey charcoal ash out of the box and into the bag, revealing the metallic chrysalis which contained Penny’s hopefully-cooked body.

The bag was moved out of the way and the box lowered back to its horizontal resting place. Knowing that the foil-wrapped meat was likely to be very hot to the touch, the girls donned oven gloves and, after removing the top half of the neck brace, gently and very carefully lifted their cooked friend out of the box and laid her in front of it on the metal table, looking a little like an ancient mummy unearthed from some Egyptian tomb.

Before the watching eyes of the those with the power to decide her future, not to mention the onlookers and various cameras, April offered up a silent prayer to whatever force controls the universe that their cooking method would have worked how they expected and she wasn’t about to unveil a burned or dried out corpse to the world. Explaining that the meat would likely now be quite delicate, ready to be pulled from the bone, and therefore unwrapping must be done very carefully, she took a pair of industrial shears, capable of cutting through the double layer of aluminium foil and, staring just under Penny’s chin, began to cut through the metal and the thick leafs below like a paramedic cutting through the jeans of an injured person.

Almost immediately, a cloud of steam escaped and the area was filled with a delicious smell – a mixture of cooked pork and garlic mixed with the sweetness of the pineapple and honey. With a sigh of relief, April continued to cut down the length of Penny’s body, taking care to keep her face out of the path of the released steam which, unlike the soil, was incredibly hot. Eventually, she reached Penny’s feet and made a couple of sideways cuts then returned to the head end and cut across her shoulders.

There was a second round of applause, far more genuine and enthusiastic this time, as the girls peeled back the foil revealing the cooked body of their friend. The kale leafs came away with the meal creating the pleasing impression that the meat lay on a bed of garnish on a large platter. In truth, neither April nor Jessica had been quite sure what to expect of a slow-cooked human body but Penny lay there looking much as she had in life, other than a little mottling on her skin which was now a very light brown colour as if the redhead had, for the first time in her life, managed to get a tan. She looked so beautiful, with the sweet steam rising gently from her naked form, that it almost seemed a shame to break her apart but the girls knew that presentation was only a small part of the test – their futures would be made or broken depending on how the meat tasted.

April had correctly theorised that the meat would be practically falling off the bone so she did not need a knife to take a piece of Penny’s delicious-looking thigh, instead gripping a piece with a pair of tongs and pulling it away easily before placing the offering on one of the paper plates that had been provided and handing it to the first judge along with a small wooden fork. She prepared two more pieces the same way so that all the judges had a piece then, as was their right, she and Jessica got to try some for themselves. Rather than continuing with the thigh, they decided to share a breast. Without even using the tongs, Jessica took hold of Penny’s deliciously juicy-looking left breast and pulled, delighted by the way it came away so easily, releasing another waft of the delicious cooked smell. She broke it in half and handed one part to April. It was indeed juicy and both girls had to wipe their chins several times and wash their hands when they were done but it was worth it for the indescribably delicious taste.

It was impossible to tell the mood of the judges as they ate their samples then, along with the organisers and cameraman, made their way to the next booth but they appeared satisfied. Several of the onlookers went with them but a far larger number stayed, anxious to try some of Penny’s meat! In order to make as much as possible accessible, the girls very carefully rolled Penny onto her side so it looked as if she was in bed. The under-side of the meat looked every bit as delicious as the top and neither girl could resist claiming a handful of her juicy bottom before stepping back and letting the public have at it. Some used the plates and made use of the tongs but many were simply grabbing bite-sized pieces of meat straight off the carcass and popping them into their mouth, savouring the delicious flavour.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” a voice intoned over the loud-speakers all around the massive hall some two hours later when there was very little of Penny left. As well as the meat that people might expect to be tasty, the slow-cooking process had made her organs and offal just as delicious and most of her innards had gone the way of her flesh. Only her pretty, uncooked head with its thin ginger plaits remained untouched. “Would all competitors and guests please make their way to the central stage for the announcement of the judges’ decision.

Dutifully, after covering Penny’s face respectfully with a soft towel, April and Jessica joined the throngs of others making their way towards the stage where the head of the company behind the competition, a smart-looking woman in her late forties, stood at a lectern with the other organisers and judges seated behind her. The girls managed to find a space to stand fairly close to the front where they could see quite well. Jessica noticed with amusement that all the other competitors’ clothes were now infused with a wonderful array of cooking smells!

“First of all,” the woman on the stage began once everyone appeared to be gathered, “we would like to thank everyone who entered this year. The standard of entries has been exceptionally high and extremely difficult to judge so we are also incredibly grateful to our panel of chefs and critics who took on this challenging task.” There was a round of polite applause. “And of course,” she continued, “posthumous thanks must go to all the wonderful, selfless girls and young women who gave up their bodies for today’s demonstrations. Without them, the event really would not have been possible!” There was more applause, a little more enthusiastic this time but still with a general air of impatience. People wanted to know who had won.

“So,” the woman smiled, “without further ado, here are the results you’ve all been waiting for. In third place,” she took a large gold envelope from the lectern in front of her and opened it, pulling out the card inside, “winning a £1000 research and development grant, is Sandra and Robert Howarth! Come on up!” The large screen hanging above her head showed the sibling’s entry and video footage of its use. It was a fairly traditional-looking cooking pot heated with electric elements like a tea kettle. In it, two cute brunettes of maybe twelve and fourteen, both with curly locks which closely resembled the pair of older teens making their way up onto the stage, were giggling and splashing each other. The prize was presented in the form of an over-sized check, photographs were taken and applause awarded before the pair made their way back down the steps. April wasn’t sure quite how to feel – one prize down, one less chance of winning anything at all, yet there were the two greater prizes still to go and, had they been awarded this one, they would have known they were out of the running for what everyone there really wanted. As things stood, there was still hope!

“Second prize of a week-long residential cookery course and a £5000 research and development grant goes to Suki Ling, Don Arnold and Alex Seacrest!” The trio made their way onto the stage as footage showed a young teenaged girl of north-Asian heritage cooking in a kind of giant wok. April noticed that she was holding her breath as the second-prize winners left the stage. She glanced over at Jessica beside her and saw that she appeared to be doing the same and was in fact turning distinctly pink-cheeked!

“And finally,” the woman announced, milking the tension, “the winner of the first prize of the Roebuck Scholarship is…” she paused. The silence seemed to go on for several hours. “April Menzies and Jessica Seymour!” There was a massive eruption of applause. For the girls, it did not feel real. They made their way up onto the stage to be photographed accepting their certificate in a kind of daze, while footage of Penny climbing into the box cutting quickly to the unveiling of the meat played above them.

When the prize ceremony had ended and they returned to their booth to clear up, the girls were upset to find that Penny’s pretty head was missing. It seemed like someone had stolen it while most people were watching the announcements and decided to keep it as some kind of souvenir. Realising that there was not a lot they could do about it and still not entirely believing the whole situation was real and not an amazing dream, they began to pack Penny’s all but picked clean bones into a plastic box. They were going to offer them to her family and, if they didn’t want them, perhaps bury them under a tree or something in tribute to their friend who had given so much to help secure their futures.

“Don’t leave just yet, girls!” They turned and say the woman who had announced them as winners stood at the entrance to their booth holding an elegant, dark green cardboard box which looked like a fancy shoebox but a little deeper. “You wouldn’t want to leave without your trophy! Hopefully it will have pride of place in your dorm room and you will take it with you into your future!” She grinned and held out the box to them. A little confused, April stepped forward and took it, finding it to be quite heavy. She set it down on the metal table so that she and Jessica could open it together while the woman stood by, smiling.

Carefully, April lifted the lid off the box and set it aside. The inside of the box was padded and whatever it contained was covered by a sheet of satin the same colour as the outside. She let Jessica remove this. They both gasped when they saw what was inside.

“Vacuum-plated.” The woman explained. “Not gold, I’m afraid, as that tends to be too soft and is too easy damaged but, give her a polish every couple of months and she’ll stay shiny and beautiful forever!”

“Wow!” April exclaimed, lifting the trophy and turning it around in her hands to better inspect. It was Penny’s head! Coated in metal but such a thin layer that every detail of her pretty face, every individual hair in her braids, was visible! Tears began to flow down both girls’ cheeks as they realised that their friend’s head had not been stolen by some morbid souvenir-hunter but rather taken to be preserved in such a way that they could take her with them for whatever adventures lay ahead.

THE END