Pt 6

“Can we take some photos with the pot?” Hannah asked, “Before the others arrive?”

“Of course!” Mr Marshall grinned. He showed them the seats inside where they could sit to look as if they were cooking and they got comfy while he popped inside for his camera. Once the guests started to arrive, he would start filming again but for now he just wanted snaps for the family album, or the digital equivalent at least.

“Do we look like the invitation?” Natasha asked with a giggle as their dad squatted down to take the picture.

“Yup, pretty much!” he chuckled, “Apart from the hats!”

Once they had taken the seated photo the girls stood up, leaning over the side of the cauldron for some more pictures. Then they got out and stood in front of the pot as if waiting to be put in to cook then turned and posed cheekily with their perky round bottoms stuck out towards the camera like an old-fashioned saucy postcard.

“Some great shots there!” Mr Marshall grinned, standing up and slipping the camera into his pocket. “But your friends are going to start arriving soon so I think we need to get you in position!”

“What do we have to do?” asked Natasha, “You’re not going to start cooking us right away, are you? We wanted to say hi to our friends and enjoy some of the party first.”

“Oh of course.” Their dad smiled. “See those posts? I was figuring I’d tie you to them like you were prisoners of the tribe. That way, all your guests will get to have a good look at your cute little bodies, which I’m pretty sure is what you want anyway?” The girls giggled, confirming his suspicions. “And it will add to the atmosphere. You up for that?” The twins nodded enthusiastically and ran straight to the posts – Hannah on the left and Natasha on the right.

“Ready, Daddy!” Natasha called, pressing her bottom and shoulders against the pole with her hands behind her back on the other side. “Come tie us up!”

“Make sure you do it nice and tight!” Hannah added, giggling, “You wouldn’t want your dinner to get away, would you?”

“Okay, okay!” Mr Marshall laughed. “Give me a few minutes. I’ll go get the rope!”

“Be quick!” Natasha instructed, “Don’t want our guests going hungry, do we?”

Still chuckling at his daughters’ enthusiasm, Mr Marshall went inside and fished in the bottom drawer of his computer desk for the carrier bag where he’d stashed the rope. Finding it, he returned to the patio and took out the first piece. He went to Natasha first, wrapping it loosely a couple of times around her wrists and tying a reasonably tight bow. He knew that she could easily wriggle out if she wanted to but the binding was only symbolic anyway, as much a costume piece as the explorers hats.

“No, Daddy!” she whined. “Do it really tight!”

“But I don’t want to hurt you?” Mr Marshall replied cautiously. “It’s not like you’re actually going to try to get away, are you?”

“Well no but I want it to feel as real as possible!” Natasha informed him, “The cooking’s going to be real after all and I bet that’s going to hurt more than any rope, however tight it is!”

“Good point!” her dad chuckled. “I suppose if that’s what you really want?” He untied the rope and wrapped it again, far more tightly. With his daughter’s encouragement he pulled the soft rope so tight that it started to bite into the flesh of her wrists. “Better?” He asked.

“Yeah!” Natasha turned and grinned at him. “Do my feet now!”

“Really?” He asked, puzzled, “I wasn’t planning to. I thought it would be more comfortable if you just stood there?”

“No!” the little girl insisted. “Do it properly!”

“Well, okay!” Mr Marshall laughed, thinking how fortunate it was that the ropes had come in a pack of six so he had more than he’d expected to need. He knelt down and tied his daughter’s ankles to the pole as firmly as he had tied her ankles. “Will that do?” He asked with a chuckle.

“Don’t forget my tummy!” Natasha reminded him. Her dad didn’t bother to answer this time and simply did as she asked. The rope only went twice around her midriff rather than the six or seven times it had looked around her wrists but it seemed to satisfy her. Natasha was now well and truly tied to the pole with no chance of escape, as a real captured explorer might be.

“Do me now!” Hannah called excitedly. “Same as ‘Tasha!” Knowing that there was no point in questioning her, Mr Marshall repeated the process using the three ropes left in the bag to tie Hannah, tightly and uncomfortably, to her pole.

“We definitely need to capture this moment!” Mrs Marshall laughed, coming to join the rest of the family in the garden, bringing with her the video camera she had retrieved from the bathroom. “I should probably film from now on.” She suggested to her husband. “You’re going to be busy with the cooking and suchlike.” He agreed and she pressed the button to start recording.

“So, girls,” she addressed them from behind the camera as her husband had done, “it looks like you got captured after all! Can’t say you weren’t warned!”

“Yup!” Natasha giggled, “Those mean cannibals caught us and it looks like they’re going to be having us for dinner!”

“Well I guess that’s what happens when cannibals catch you!” Mrs Marshall laughed. “Well I hope you’re going to be tasty! Where are the cannibals by the way? I want to be careful if they’re around here somewhere!”

“They’ll be back later.” Hannah told her, playing along and thinking of her friends who would soon be arriving. “But don’t worry, I think they’ve got enough food with us!”

“Well there’s a relief!” chuckled Mrs Marshall, zooming in on each daughter in turn and filming them from her to toe then up again. “I guess it will be interesting to document the tribe and their ways when they get back, think that’s a good idea?” Both girls giggled and nodded very enthusiastically. “Great! That’s settled then!” she grinned. “Oh look!” She spun the camera around to point at the garden gate where the first guests were arriving, the girls’ school-friend Lucy and her mum who had agreed to come along and help out. “Here they come now!”