Pt 10

“Wow!” Beth’s mum exclaimed as she appeared at the bottom of the stairs, sounding half delighted and half amused, “You do scrub up well after all!”

“When I try!” the teenager laughed. Hair thick, curly red hair had been tamed and fixed up, the subtle makeup did a good job of accentuating her natural prettiness and the tight fit of the dress not only showed off the curves she usually concealed under her baggy clothing but supported her modest bust in just such a way as to give her a fairly impressive cleavage. The heels on her shoes improved her posture and her mum could not recall the last time she had seen her daughter wear nail varnish. All in all, she looked quite the elegant young lady! “Hope this is suitable for… where did you say we were going again?” she asked, trying one last time to trick the destination out of her parents but they were having none of it!

“You’ll find out when we get there!” her dad laughed. “But yes, you look perfect!” He took her hand and escorted her down the last couple of steps, giving her a small kiss on the cheek as he did so. He was dressed in a nice shirt and blazer but with no tie while his wife wore the sort of dress mums her age often wore to parties.

“Not going to make me wear a blindfold in the car are you?” Beth asked, raising her eyebrow.

“Well there’s an idea!” her dad teased. “Heck, you could keep it on all through dinner and we could just put bits of food into your mouth. That way you’d never know where we’d been!”

“Oh shush!” Beth’s mum laughed and gave him a playful slap on the arm. “Stop teasing her. No dear,” she smiled at her daughter, “you don’t have to wear a blindfold. But we do need to get going or we’ll be late for our reservation!”

“Ah! Beth observed, trying to sound like a TV detective as she followed her parents out to the car. “So it’s somewhere you have to book, is it?”

“Well not always.” her dad admitted as he opened the passenger door for her. Her parents had agreed that, as it was her special night, they would let her sit up front next to her mum and her dad would squeeze into the back seat. “They did say it wasn’t essential mid-week but we thought it best to be on the safe side. After all,” he smiled a little awkwardly, “it’s not like we could just try again next week if they were full!” Hi wife shot him a rather anxious and disapproving look but Beth did not seem to be the least bit upset.

The car journey was a little longer than most dinner outings Beth had been on with her parents and, given that they were now well outside the town and appeared to be heading to the next one or even further, she knew that they could not be going to any of their normal locations.

“I know we said no blindfold,” her mum commented after about three quarters of an hour as the Satnav told them to leave the motorway at the next junction, “but would you mind closing your eyes? We’re nearly there now, less than five minutes, and I don’t want to miss your face when you see the surprise because I’m concentrating on the road!”

“Okay!” Beth chuckled and closed her eyes. She felt a little silly but really appreciated the effort her parents were going to so that her evening would be special and did not mind at all going along with what they asked so that they could get a little enjoyment out of it too!

“You have arrived at your destination.” the crisp, electronic voice of the satnav informed them but she could feel that the car was still moving, albeit slowly. She assumed that they were either in a carpark or on the road outside the restaurant and looking for a place to park.

“Can I open them yet?” she asked in a slightly weary tone.

“Just a minute or two more!” answered her dad from the back seat. We’ll walk you to the door then you can.” As sorely tempted as she was to just take a peek, Beth kept her eyes closed as requested. When the car pulled to a stop, she heard her dad opening the back door then opening hers, reaching out and taking her hand. “That’s it, honey,” he spoke warmly, helping her out of the car and guiding her forward, warning her when a curb was coming and when she needed to turn, “not much further now.” They came to a stop and one or other of her parents, she could not tell which, manouvered Beth by the shoulders so that she would be face-on with whatever they wanted her to see.

“Ready?” Her mum asked excitedly. “Aaaand… Open!”

“Wow!” Beth gasped as she saw where they were. “I’ve just been reading about… but I didn’t think… Thank you!”

“We told you it was fitting!” her dad chuckled, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Hope you like it?”

“I do!” Beth enthused! “I really do!” She looked up at the large, purpose-built restaurant front before her. There were a few steps up to the large, glass front doors which led into the lobby and gift shop, with a wheelchair ramp running alongside them, and above the door, in the stylised form of a signature with a heart used to dot the “i” was the name of the restaurant:

“Sidney’s”

“Go on, honey!” Beth’s mum patted her gently on her back, “Lead the way! This is your night after all!” Excited beyond words, Beth practically skipped up the steps and approached the big glass doors which slide aside automatically as they she drew close.

The foyer of the restaurant was far more than a simple reception area. As well as the gift shop which seemed as well-stocked and extensive as that of any theme park, there was an exhibition about Sidney Roebuck and her life, including a life-size waxwork of the visionary girl waving happily to customers and wearing nothing but the trademark rhinestone-encrusted Stetson and cowboy books that had become her trademark attire for her many television appearances.

It was this display that Beth first ran to while her parents approached the desk to inform that they had arrived and confirm the name they were booked under. There was not a lot in the display that Beth was not already familiar with from the book she had not long finished but it was fascinating to see the photographs printed large and some of the original newspapers and magazines that Sidney had appeared in during her campaign for the right to be eaten.

“Have I got time to look in the gift shop?” Beth asked, slipping herself between her parents at the desk while the receptionist checked them in. It was not like she would have much time to enjoy anything she purchased, of course, but there might be another book she could potentially get through and there would more than likely be some cool souvenirs she could buy for Maddie or the twins to put towards their birthday presents.

“Sure, sweetie.” her mum smiled, “We made good time getting here and our table won’t be ready for another twenty minutes or so. Go have fun!”

Excitedly, Beth scampered off to the gift-shop which was actually a large corner of the reception area with signs directing customers to pay for their purchases at the front desk. What caught Beth’s attention first were the rows of preserved heads, presumably all from girls who had been served in the restaurant. There were smiling, wall-mounted trophies and others on a shelf which had been preserved with their mouths open and were labelled “Happy Ending”.

“Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you stop being useful!” Beth chuckled quietly to herself and wondering, if she had ended up in a place like this rather than the party, which type of preservation she might have preferred. There were hands too, mostly stood upright, a little like Thing from Addams Family, Beth thought with amusement, with the fingers splayed to be used as jewellery stands but there were others with curved fingers and notices boasting of an adjustable grip! Beth had never yanked on or sucked a dick and she wondered how many of the girls these “toys” came from had been experienced and how many had popped their cherry posthumously?

There was also jewellery that seemed to be made from teeth and finger-bones as well as larger, ornamental pieces that looked like ivory, made from carved girl-bones. There was a rack of bookmarks made from stained-red girl-leather and emblazoned with the chain’s logo in gold – Beth picked up three of these thinking, with a slight private smile, that it might encourage the recipients to read more!

Among the books she recognised the biography she had just finished along with several similar ones but she already felt like she knew everything she needed to know about Sidney Roebuck, however remarkable she may have been. There were recipe books too filled with ideas about how to prepare girl-meat at home but she was pretty sure that the Thomas’s already had that covered! For younger children there were story books about a meat-girl’s journey from door to table but she wasn’t sure giving one of those to Jennifer would go down too well and she was sure Maddie knew way more about the process than she herself ever would so they would be a little redundant for her, even if there were any more aimed at her age-group.

Beyond these, however, Beth found something she thought all three would enjoy and would likely not be disapproved of – There were a number of different colouring books showing girls of various ages sometimes exploring a kitchen, sometimes being prepped or cooked and others being served to hungry guests. There was a more complicated one aimed at the adult market that she picked up for Maddie and selected two of the more child-friendly ones for the twins. After all, she reasoned, if their parents were willing to let them watch a real girl getting cooked in their back yard then pictures to colour in shouldn’t be too much of an issue!

Gathering up her selection, Beth went back over to the reception desk and waited patiently behind a woman accompanied by two girls around ten years old – one blonde and one brunette. Neither girl looked dressed for a meal out but were chatting and giggling happily together while the woman accompanying them spoke to the receptionist. They did not look like sisters – best friends, perhaps? The woman behind the counter smiled and pointed off towards a door beyond the gift shop and the blonde girl hugged the woman quickly before both ran off towards it, the woman waving after them and wishing them luck. All of a sudden the realisation hit Beth that the girls had not come there to eat – they had come to be eaten! They were on the menu that night! She couldn’t help wondering if she would get to see them cooked!