“My office.” Mollie remarked, gesturing in an off-hand way as the passed the first door past Reception. The door was open and Maureen was at her desk but nobody else for the time being. “I’d take you in but I promise there’s nothing worth seeing in there,” she told them with a smile, “unless you have a particular fascination with coffee mugs and desk calendars!” The girls giggled, Jessica and Marcia now mingling in among them as they continued down the corridor. “As you can see,” their guide continued, “we have six inspection room. We’ll be in number four later but there’s some other places I want to show you first. Here!” She stopped outside the storeroom door and pushed it slightly to alert those inside that they were coming in and warning them to be in their best behaviour. “This is where we keep all the equipment that we use for the outdoor events.” Pushing the door all the way open now, she stood against in and ushered the group inside. Doug and the others seemed to have finished the cleaning and restocking and had now gone off to see to other duties, meaning that there was nobody else in the room.

“Who’s seen an outdoor spitting before?” Mollie asked. Every single one of the hands went up.”

“We have that at out school!” One girl near the front informed her proudly. “At the fairs!”

“I’m sure those are very popular!” Mollie grinned. “Where else have you seen them?”

“At the beach!” one of the older a girl, a pretty, bespectacled brunette with her hair in a single thick braid called out, rather redundantly raising her hand at the same time. “When we went last year there was this double one that two girls were cooking on, going round and round each other.”

“Ooh I’ve seen that type on display!” Mollie grinned. “But never actually seen one used! Sounds fun! Anyone seen anyone cooked at home? A family member maybe?”

“My sister was cooked at my Uncle’s wedding!” a slim blonde who seemed to fall around the middle of the age-range volunteered. Various others gave their own examples and Mollie was pleased to see how relaxed they all seemed with the idea. As normalised as it was, there were still some people who thought it somehow “immoral” and tried to shelter their children from the ideas, resulting in pretty jarring culture shock when they started to experience more than their parents’ carefully curated version of the world. Fortunately, there did not seem to be any such youngsters among this group!

“Well this is one of our complete spit-roasting units.” Mollie explained proudly, drawing their attention to the all-in-one apparatus with the motorised spit and integral charcoal bed. “We also have some that run off bottled gas, with artificial coals for effect.” she explained. “Those are popular in places that require a quick clean-up afterwards, places where too much smoke could cause damage to the surroundings or places with a high fire-risk like in the woods.” The girls nodded their understanding. “But most people prefer the authenticity of real charcoal. We keep sacks of hickory and apple-wood flakes to sprinkle over the coals to create a nice, flavoured smoke.”

“Excuse me?” One of the older girls, a pretty, sporty-looking girl with dirty-blonde hair in a short ponytail raised her hand.

“Yes, hon?” Mollie smiled, finding it refreshing that this girl had raised her hand and waited to be called upon rather than just blurting out her question. The others had seemed to understand the etiquette of raising their hands but not the party about waiting for acknowledgment before speaking. Not that it really mattered to her. She loved their enthusiasm and how engaged the were, but this particular girl’s good manners struck has and charmingly endearing.

“What are you going to cook me over?” the girl ask as casually as if enquiring when lunch would be or what type of stone a particular statue was made from. Well, Mollie thought, along with Marcia and Jessica, that was one mystery cleared up!

“You must be Emma!” Mollie grinned and the pretty teen nodded, her cheeks turning a little pink. “Well, for you we’re going to use our permanent outdoor spit setup where we have a brick-edged charcoal pit so definitely the real thing!” Emma looked pleased to hear this. “As for the smoke chips, I can let you all have a sniff of both later and we can make our final choice but looking at you, off the top of my head, I would say the hickory.” Listening to this discussion, Jessica could not help wondering if she could be cooked over real coals. She certainly hoped so but it was far from a deal-breaker for her. The important thing was that she was getting roasted. The exact method was just a technicality. If they did go down the traditional route, however, she could not help feeling that the apple-wood smoke would best compliment her meat.

Next she led them to the row of portable ovens and pulled one open so that they could see inside. These came in two types too, she explained, electric, which could either be plugged into the site mains or hooked up to a generator, and bottled gas which tended to be neater and more compact but generally cooked at a lower temperature and took longer. Taking a folded paper napkin from the sandwich van out of her pocket, Mollie gave the inside and the sturdy wire shelf a quick wipe to check that the boys on cleaning duty had done their job properly before making her offer. The napkin remained pristine so she tucked it back in her pocket and turned to the girls.

“Now, who would like to have a go at getting inside one of these?” she asked. “So I we can talk about the two most popular oven-roasting poses!” Six hands shot up immediately, Marcia’s included unsurprisingly, followed by three more slightly hesitant ones.

“Do we have to take our clothes off?” A pale, stocky girl who Mollie estimated to be around eleven, with glasses and a long black ponytail, asked cautiously.

“No, not for this.” Mollie assured her. “It’s just for fun. What’s your name, honey?”

“Sandra.” The girl answered with a slightly timid smile.

“Well, Sandra,” Mollie leaned forward with an encouraging smile, “would you like to be my volunteer?” The girl gave a small but enthusiastic nod. “Let’s give Sandra a round of applause everyone!” The rest of the group, children and adults alike, did as requested and Mollie held out her hand to guide her young subject forwards. “what I’d like you to do first,” she explained quietly, leaning in so that she could give instructions without everyone else hearing, “is lay on your back, put your feet together and bend your knees out then grab hold of your ankles with your hands. Can you do that for me?” Sandra nodded and climbed into the gleaming, clean oven, adopting the described pose. “Great!” Mollie congratulated her. “You’re a natural! You sure you’ve never been roasted before?” Sandra giggled, as did all her friends. “Right, so everyone take a look and see if you can tell me what kind of traditional roast she looks like? Something people used to eat in the old days before they admitted Girl was just so much better!” There was more giggling and the girls all gathered in close, peering at their friend in the oven.

“A turkey!” some called out.

“Very good!” Mollie confirmed. “We call this Turkey Pose and it’s very popular for family meals and formal dinner parties where everyone sits at the table. Who can tell me what the other popular pose is called?” She was met with a sea of blank expressions. “I’ll give you a clue! Once a girl has decided to cook, especially once she’s taken her clothes off, what’s a nickname she’s often given?”

“Piggy!” Emma declared gleefully.

“That’s right!” Mollie chuckled. “The other popular roasting position is known as Piggy Pose and that’s great for outdoor parties and buffets where people can come and help themselves. In fact,” she winked at Marcia, planning on saving the big reveal about the sisters for later, “I’ll be cooking a very sweet girl tomorrow morning to serve as part of a cold buffet at lunch time and she will be roasting in Piggy Pose!” Marcia beamed, already picturing herself inside the cosy hot oven with her skin turning deliciously crispy and golden brown. “But that will be in one of our static ovens in the kitchen that I will show you later.” Mollie explained. “Now, Sandra, I need you to get onto your front, tuck your knees up under your tummy, fold your arms and rest your chin on them. Can you do that for me?” Sandra complied, rather awkwardly manoeuvring herself in the rather restricted space of the oven. “Oh!” Mollie added, “And stick up your rump!” This was met with more giggles as Sandra did as she was told. “Now,” Mollie asked, “let’s assume you’re all getting cooked in one of my ovens. Who would prefer to cook in Turkey Pose?” She counted the hands. “And Piggy? Good! A pretty even split as always! Okay Sandra, honey, you can come out now. Let’s give her another round of applause, eh?” The group obeyed enthusiastically as their friend emerged from the oven and gave a little bow. “Right,” Mollie clapped her hands together. “Let’s move on! Has anyone ever played the game Pot Luck?”


To be continued...