Quickly, one of the caterers pinned her braided hair up on top of her head so that it would not flop about as she roasted then, at the flick of a switch, the spit began to turn in its electronic mounts. To keep herself from getting dizzy, Kerry tried to focus on a fixed point in the distance, a tree on the edge of the field. Although it was rather surreal to see the tree apparently rotating, it at least kept the nausea a bay and provided something of a distraction. It was hard to tell whether the heat from glowing coals beneath her or the sun beating down from above was more intense, certainly one offered no respite from the other, so it was a welcome relief when the caterers began to baste her with a cool, sweet-smelling and smokey sauce.

Once she was fully basted, another round of photographs was taken by the assorted press and some of the news cameras filmed a short segment of what Kerry remembered from her media studies class was called “B-roll”, related, background footage that could be used to pad out the main report. She wished she could turn her head to see Katie but that was not possible with the steel pole through her neck. In her peripheral vision, if she strained her eyes as far to the right as they would go, she could just make out the ends of her arms, confirming that she too was basted with the same sweet, red marinade. The younger meat-girl had been so excited about being spit-roasted, Kerry hoped that the experience was living up to the expectation for her!

“Hey li’l red.” Hunter came and stood beside her, speaking softly, making it clear that he meant this to be an intimate and private, albeit one-sided conversation, rather than part of the entertainment for those standing around or any sort of public speech. She tried to smile at him, which was difficult around that spit but she had often heard it said that a true smile can be seen in the eyes and she hoped that was true. “Hope it’s not too uncomfortable?” She did her best to shrug. It wasn’t exactly a pleasant sensation, other than the feeling between her legs where the spit entered her, but it wasn’t nearly as painful as she had feared it might be either. The heat was honestly worse that the spitting and the layer of sauce was providing a degree of protection against that, for the time being anyway, and she hoped that there would be another layer added soon. “Good.” Hunter smiled, apparently understanding her gesture. “My sister would be proud of you. Say hi to her from me, won’t you!” He reached out and brushed her hot, pink cheek with the back of his hand, her head being the only part of her body not basted. “I promise you I’m going to enjoy your meat with the respect it deserves.” he assured her. “And between you and me, I don’t see old Humbert Harcourt being here in September!” She managed to look up at him and he winked at her. “Sweet dreams, li’l red!” he smiled, kissed the tips of his middle-two fingers and touched them to her forehead.

There was really no way of judging how much time had passed. People were milling around, some coming over and taking photos of her or posing for selfies in front of the roasting pits as she turned but nobody else spoke to her, not even the caterers who applied the second, then the third coat of baste. Kerry’s vision was starting to distort now. The tree that she tried to focus on was now not only spinning around but a dozen smaller versions of it were turning in their own space while also orbiting the main one around the edges of her vision like a kaleidoscope. Kerry closed her eyes. She was tired now anyway. The heat always made her sleepy, every time she had gone to the beach she had ended up falling asleep on the blanket after playing for a little while. In fact, she could hear the sea now. That had to be some kind of hallucination, right? Or the sound of her own blood amplified in her ears for some reason? The school was nearly two hours from the nearest coast as far as she knew. But no, that was definitely the sound of crashing waves she heard, and the smell was unmistakable too!

Opening her eyes, Kerry saw that she was indeed on a beach, facing the rolling sea, the sun blazing down from above. After a moment or two she realised that the heat she felt on her front was not from a bed of coals at all but rather from the hot sand she was laying on. A little unsteadily, she sat up, realising that another girl was sat beside her, tanned, shapely legs stretched out in front of her, wiggling her toes in the sand. At first she thought this must be Katie but no, this girl was older, her own age or there abouts, with blonde, shoulder-length hear in a loose, messy ponytail like she often wore her own. Katie was there, however, knee deep in the sea, splashing and playing around with some other girls Kerry didn’t know.

“Hi there!” the stranger beside her smiled. “Glad you made it! We were waiting for you.”

“Oh?” Kerry asked, a little puzzled, “Do I know you?” The girl was pretty in an unassuming way, much like Kerry herself, only with a far more toned physique like an athlete, petite but just on the right side of stocky, bordering on muscular. There was certainly something familiar about her, as if she was someone who Kerry used to know, although she could not quite place her.

“Oh, hang on!” the girl giggled, noticing Kerry’s confusion. “I keep forgetting!” She screwed up her face in concentration for a moment and her straight hair exploded out of her ponytail and into a mane of golden ringlets. At the same time, it appeared that makeup appeared on her face and suddenly Kerry knew exactly who she was. Sidney Roebuck! “Better?” she asked.

“Oh! Hi!” Kerry beamed. “It’s awesome to meet you! Sorry I didn’t recognise you right away!” she apologised as the makeup faded and Sidney’s hair gently rearranged itself into the ponytail it had been in moments earlier.

“It’s okay!” Sidney smiled with genuine warmth. “I kinda went out of my way to make sure people didn’t recognise me so I shouldn’t be surprised that it works! I know the other face is the one you know, but I can’t hold it for long. It’s not really me, you see, just an echo of an idea of a disguise.”

“That’s okay.” Kerry smiled. “I know and I’m happy to get to know the real you, not the character! Oh,” she grinned, “and your brother says hi!”


To be continued...