If he was surprised to see his two children and their babysitter walking stark naked into the otherwise empty restaurant area, he didn’t show it.

“Everyone going well so far?” he asked with a smile, setting his phone down on the table.

“Definitely!” Rose assured him while the siblings nodded enthusiastically. “We’ve just come to see the cooking area!”

“Oh, right.” Their dad smiled. “Am I in the way? I can move if…”

“Oh no,” Rose assured him quickly, “you’re fine where you are!” He turned around in his chair so that he could get a better look at what was being discussed as she began her explanation. “You’ll be up here until it’s time for your prep.” Rose explained to Lucas, “don’t worry, we won’t expect you to jump!” She pulled a large lever-like switch on the wall and for a moment, Lucas expected arcs of blue-white electricity to start crackling everywhere like a Frankenstein movie but instead of a man made from body-parts, something he realised could realistically be put together in a place like this, at least for a decoration, some heavy-sounding gears hidden in the ceiling came to life and the cage began to lower on its chain until it stopped only about two inches from the flagstone floor. “Want to try it out?” Rose invited, pulling open the door with a very satisfying creak.

“Sure!” Lucas grinned, ducking to step in and grabbing one of the bars from inside to steady himself as the caged swung slightly on its single chain, knocked off balance by his getting in, then finding that he could stand up quite comfortably once inside. Rose closed the door with a clang that was every bit as satisfying and atmospheric as the hinge-creak then slid the bolt across She then unhooked the large padlock which Lucas had assumed was just from decoration from beside the door and clicked it into place, locking him inside.

“Don’t worry!” she grinned at him. “The key’s on the wall over there.” she pointed to a large iron key hanging on a hook on the wall of the kitchen area. “You might want to hold on tight!” She pushed the lever back up and Lucas immediately realised what she meant as the cage began to be cranked back up into the air and the sudden jolting motion caused him to fall to his knees. Luckily, the bottom of the cage had a wooden floor inside the iron base and this was padded with straw so he did not injure himself as he fell and was able to pull himself back up with most of his dignity still intact. Holding on very tightly now, he felt the cage continue to rise up to where it had been when they walked in before coming to a stop and gently swaying, giving him a great view of the kitchen area and the other equipment that was about to be explained.

“I this the pot I’m going in?” Diane asked curiously.

“No,” Rose explained, “not this one. This is the normal one that’s mostly just for show. We have made stew in it for a real a couple of times but it’s not really meant for that and there’s better ones in the kitchen for actual cooking. But hold on a second…” She grinned like a magician about to perform a spectacular trick and flipped up a panel on the side of the wooden Welsh dresser which held the rustic plates and mugs along with the assorted bottles and jars which lent the kitchen ambience, revealing a set of buttons. “You might want to stand back!” she suggested. Looking curious, Diane and Sandy both did as they were told and Lucas watched with interest from his lofty vantage point as Rose pushed one of the button and they heard a metallic snapping sound, like catches disengaging, and the pot on its base began to turn, what they had thought was a section of solid stone-work disappearing into the darkness to be replaced by another emerging from the other side. The was another click as the seals locked back into place and the group looked in surprise at the very similar pot which had replaced the previous one, fitting in as seamlessly as if it had been sat there the whole time.

To the casual observer, who had not just been looking at the regular one, they would appear almost identical from the outside. The one, however, was slightly higher and slightly narrower than the other, with a flatter base and lacking the shelf around the edge of the inside for the occupants to sit on. What it did have, however, welded into place, were three restraints. A large one, just below the lip of the pot, and two smaller ones, one of each side, around half way down. The small ones were only on arms an inch or so long but the big one at the top Stuck out almost to the middle of the pot. The back half of each one was a solid semi-circle while the front was hinged and split it two, currently stretching out either side. At the back of each restraint was a smaller bar with a curved “rest” at the end which followed the same general contour as the round restraint.

“It’s a spring-loaded mechanism,” Rose explained, reaching in and pushing the “rest” of what was clearly the neck restraint back into the arm. As she did so, the two halves of the front folded in and came together. As soon as she let go, it sprung back out and the quarter-circles opened up again. “What it’s powered on, there’s a magnet that holds them together.” She informed the group, anticipating the question. “Then when it’s time to get you out, we can disengage the magnet. It’s flat at the bottom so you can kneel while you cook. Wanna try it?” Diane nodded enthusiastically. “Okay!” Rose grinned. “Let me see, they should be around here somewhere…” She looked around and quickly spotted what she was looking for. A small set of rustic wooden steps, such as someone might have in their kitchen to reach high shelves, that could be used to climb into the pot. “Don’t worry!” she smiled. “We’ll help you back out but it’s good to practice getting in by yourself!”


To be continued...