Part 6

Delighted that all three chosen girls had agreed so readily, Carla and Hunter had gone to talk to the other judges to confirm the final list. Of course, with three members of the dance troupe not making it to opening night and with hopefully at least one girl a week volunteering to be “star of the show”, there were going to need to be backups. It was decided that there would be twelve active members at any given time and six subs who could attend all the rehearsals and get the benefits of being on the team but without automatically being included in the performances. These girls would be available to cover for any girls who got sick or otherwise couldn’t perform on any given night and, if any volunteered to go on the menu, one of the subs would be promoted to active member and a new girl would be recruited to take their place. Since the first public performance would be the night after the night on which the chosen trio cooked, it was decided that nine subs would be recruited from those who auditioned this first time, and the details of any others who were interested kept on record for the future.

The first rehearsal had been the following Monday and, at first, the three girls had been treated like celebrities – the first stars with the entire dance built around them. Of course there was a different version of the same dance being rehearsed for the weekend but Samantha, Jennifer and Rebecca didn’t really need to know that one. The track chosen was a cheesy eighties novelty song about cannibals, hence the “savage” theme of the scenery and their current attire, but it had a catchy beat and was perfect for occasion.

The rehearsals reminded Samantha of something she had read in a book once about some ancient culture that would train a young girl to perform a special dance before she was sacrificed in their annual ritual. Going along to the dance rehearsals with the whole team but knowing that she she, Rebecca and Jennifer would die after their first and only performance made Samantha feel like that girl. Okay, there was no religious or superstitious aspect to her death but there was some degree of ritual surrounding it and she was to be part of a feast to mark a special occasion so surely that made her a sacrifice of sorts?

The photo-shoot had certainly been lots of fun! The trio had been provided with white leather cowboy boots and white Stetsons, decorated with pink patterns and shimmering rhinestones, just like those worn by Sidney Roebuck herself in her many TV and magazine appearances. They had happily posed with not a stitch on otherwise on the stage, in the reception area by the ornate entrance to the dining room and even outside by the main entrance, attracting a lot of attention from passers-by and eliciting many honks and even the occasional cat-call from passing drivers. Far from feeling self-conscious, Samantha had revelled in the attention, loving the way people on the street took out their phones to capture her naked body for posterity.

After that there had been solo poses with the hats and boots then a bunch of assistants had come over and put the girls’ hair up like it would be for cooking and had oiled their smooth young bodies all over, much as the were now, and several more solo and group shots had been taken but this time the girls posed in the kitchen on the surfaces and with the equipment then finally with the equipment in the public cooking area which would actually be used to cook them and laying seductively and appetisingly on the carvery counter from which two of them would be served.

Clearly the construction and decorating crews had been working over-time to get the restaurant ready for this very special preview night and the changes made in just two weeks. All the dining tables were now in place, of course, and the twelve-foot statue of Sidney Roebuck, slowly turning on its plinth and holding a platter on which her own roasted body, still wearing her trademark hat but with a rosy red apple in her mouth, was served.

At regular intervals down both sides of the dining room were alcoves which that night was occupied with living statues, preteen and young teen girls, their bodies, faces and even hair painted white and posing either completely naked or draped with sheer fabric togas. The girls occupying nine of these alcoves on that night were the subs from the dance team, three of whom would be promoted afterwards ready for the next night. The other three were occupied by volunteers from a local gymnastics club. Since it was an extra expense to pay girls to pose every night, and child labour laws would require many different girls to be available, the living statues would only be displayed on very special occasions and the rest of the time lightweight resin statues would occupy the alcoves.

Knowing how popular the mermaid “enclosure” had been at the Birmingham branch and subsequent branches, the designers of this bigger and better branch had really gone to town with the design for this branch. Instead of being a fountain-like installation, this “habitat” extended all the way around the dining room in a horse-shoe, set above the height of the doors onto the stage but below the alcoves, with fibreglass rocks at various intervals as well as waterfalls and other rocky features. The entire trough-like channel was made of clear perspex so diners could look up and see the mermaids swimming around above them like an aquarium.

Unlike the living statues, which was a rather boring role requiring an awful lot of standing still, no Sidney’s had any trouble finding mermaids. Any girl between the ages of ten and fourteen was welcome to sign up, of any body-type as long as they were confident swimmers and happy to wear the costumes which consisted of colourful wigs, stick-on scales and tails which were designed to leave the rumps and vulvae of the girls exposed. The girls rotad in for a shift would be paid but any member of the team was welcome to volunteer their time without the need to arrange it in advance and any volunteering for two hours or more was entitled to a free burger and fries or other meal of equivalent value. In other branches, many girls came every afternoon after school and used the swimming time as a kind of daily workout and it was almost certain that this new branch, with more room to swim than any other, would be no exception.

“Okay girls, are we ready?” Chloe, the lead instructor, hopped up onto the small platform and clasped her hands together. Her question was met with an enthusiastic chorus from the excited performers. “Fantastic! Well, it’s time to get up on stage! I’ll see you up safely but I’ve done all I can. From here, it’s all down to you! I’ll be watching from the back and I just know you’re all going to be amazing and, of course,” she grinned straight at Samantha, Rebecca and Jennifer, “delicious! I’ll be sure to get at least a bite of all three of you! Now go blow them away with your awesomeness!”

Suitably geed up by this pep-talk, the twelve near-naked dancers ascended the two sets of stairs, made their way onto the darkened stage and took up their positions. The stage was decorated with stylised, neon-coloured fibreglass reliefs depicting mud-huts and palm trees – a typical cannibal village out of a cartoon. There were even a couple of posts decorated with real skulls and other bones collected from other branches of Sidney’s and painted brilliant white so that they would glow in the ultraviolet lights that would be directed at them and the rest of the scenery.