Carefully, Laura began to tug on the ropey intestines, finding the texture different from what she had expected, more solid and sinewy.

“In a little while you’ll feel a resistance.” Susan warned her as Zahra softly moaned, unsure herself whether what she was feeling was pleasure or pain, only knowing that it felt incredibly right. Laura recognised what the experienced butcher meant and allowed Susan to guide her hand with the knife to make cuts that were just large enough to squeeze the organs through without splitting Zahra entirely open, spoiling the look of the turkey crown. Carefully, Laura continued to pull the sweet young girl’s viscera out through the widened hole where her anus had been until she felt strong resistance again and Zahra began to cough and gag. As Susan instructed, she cut the piece of digestive tract she was holding as close to the hole as possible and tucked the rest back inside, watching Zahra relax once the pressure was released just as Becky had.

“Nearly done!” Susan assured the freshly-gutted turkey, moving around to the front so that she could stroke her hair soothingly. “You’re both doing really well!” Knowing what was coming next, Kelly moved too, still filming with Laura’s phone, so that she could capture the moment Zahra’s head came off. Jeff brought a fresh tub of warm water over and placed it in front of the guillotine and, just as she had watched Susan do previously, Laura crouched down and took hold of Zahra’s warm little hands, pulling on them as hard as she could without causing too much discomfort to make sure that they would be cut off as close to the shoulder as possible.

“Want to count?” Laura grinned as Jeff took up his position by the switch, ready to release the spring-loaded blade.

“Yes please!” Zahra beamed, a blissful look on her face as if this were the greatest moment of her short but happy life. The three adults and two children began the countdown from five and Zahra even joined in with shouting the word “CHOP!” as the blade was released and instantly snapped down into its natural resting position. Laura shifted her foot to keep her balance as Zahra’s pretty head fell into the water with a slightly bigger splash that Becky’s had, causing a few drops of water to spill over the side, then began to float, face up and eyes closed, a contented smile still on her lips.

“Do you want these on the table?” Laura asked, standing up and waggling the severed arms which flopped around comically. Jeff took them from her and she peeled off the gloves then took her phone back from Kelly. “Thank you so much, honey!” she smiled at the girl who was eagerly watching the blade being cranked back up, knowing that next time it fell, it would be her own neck in its path! Before the discussion could begin about whether Laura would be assisting with Kelly’s gutting too, the butcher’s wife came into the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the sweet, older woman smiled at Laura, “but your husband and the girls wanted you to know they’re about to go watch Emily and wondered if you’d like to come with them?”

“Would you mind?” Laura asked Kelly. “I don’t want to seem rude?”

“Not at all!” the sweet young girl grinned. “Go watch her get chopped up! It will be fun! Hope you feel more confident about gutting your turkey now and that you have a very merry Christmas!”

“Thank you!” Laura grinned and caught herself before wishing “Same to you”, remembering that little Kelly had only about three minutes left to live and would not be seeing Christmas Day! “I know you’ll be absolutely delicious!” she told her instead for leaning down to give the happy, beaming little girl a kiss on the forehead. Thanking the couple again, Laura quickly slipped out of the overall and followed the butcher’s wife back out into the shop where she saw several new girls of varying ages chatting happily as they waited their turn on the bench and Josh, Samantha and Amelia waiting for her beside another gap in the counter along with the butcher himself and a pretty brunette with her hair in one thick braid, wearing nothing but pink hat and boots, a meat stamp and a very excited grin!

“Did you watch the turkeys getting gutted?” Samantha asked excited as her mum joined them.

“Watched one, gutted one!” Laura grinned. “For practice!”

“Oh wow!” Samantha’s eyes went a little wide. “That was super awesome of them! Did you get lots of good pictures?”

“Everything was filmed!” Laura assured her with a chuckle. “But I haven’t had a chance to check the footage yet!”

“Are you not coming?” Josh asked Emily’s mum with whom he had been chatting.

“No, not for this.” she smiled, a hint of sadness in her eyes that she was careful to hide from Emily, grateful that her daughter was distracted with chatting to the other girls. “But I’ll be waiting to collect my portion!” she added with a grin.

“Do you want my hat and boots, Mummy?” Emily asked, pausing and turning back to her mum.

“I don’t think they’d fit me!” she chuckled, winking at her giggling daughter. “Maybe one of these girls would like them?”

“Well I’m going in the oven in a couple of days.” Samantha admitted, “So I’d not really get the use out of them and I think the boots are a bit big for Amelia?” She glanced over at her friend’s petite feet, then an idea occurred to her. “But I have another friend who I bet would love them, if that’s okay? It’s someone who’s probably not going to get a lot of other presents!” Josh and Laura exchanged glances, guessing who she was referring to and touched by their sweet daughter’s thoughtfulness.

“Sounds perfect!” Emily grinned. “Come on then, let’s go! Bye, Mummy! Love you!” she waved as they headed through the door. “Enjoy my meat and Merry Christmas!”

To be continued...