With scenes like this did summer pass, and the autumn lady-market approached.
Lawrence told her what to expect. She would be offered for sale along with the other girls to brothels and wealthy private collectors. Unsold girls were purchased by the renderer for reduction to their useful components.
On the morning of the market the two men came up to her room. Did they expect her to give them any trouble? She resolved to be as obedient as possible.
They took her downstairs and she made their breakfast, then washed the dishes and set them to dry. Arnold bound her hands and she knelt at the men's feet.
Arnold commented to his father how useful she had been to them. Already he spoke of her in the past tense.
Lawrence said he had mentioned this to Alma's father, who assured him his daughter was very well trained and just what he wanted. She would make a good replacement for Faith until she was sold in turn.
Arnold poured a generous bowl of feed for his stepmother, then leashed her and led her to squat in the back yard. Back inside, he brushed her hair and the three of them proceeded out of the house.
As they walked she recalled meeting her owner three years ago, Larry as she called him then. He was selling his wife's bed; at the time she thought he was a widower. Now he was selling her.
At the entrance to the school's athletic field was a black van resembling a hearse; the renderer's. In the center a dozen stakes had been driven into the earth. Already three girls were suspended by their wrists from hooks at the top. The renderer and his assistant the nurse were inspecting them.
The two men hung her up; loosely, so she could be turned to inspect the front and back.
Lawrence handed his son a tube of lipstick; the boy uncapped it and approached Faith. He applied it carefully to her lips; when he was done, she made that suggestive O with her mouth again. He smiled and patted her on the cheek before putting a thin coat on each of her nipples, which rose to greet him.
She realized suddenly that she was in love with her stepson; and that she was seeing him for the last time. Her eyes begin to brim over with tears; he took a tissue, wiped her face dry, then turned and walked away.
She struggled to regain her self-control. She was here, a slave to be sold. Her duty was to display herself and bring in the highest price for her owner. She forced a smile and hoped it looked natural.
The nurse approached her. She probed each of Faith's openings with a swab for disease, then inspected her tongue. Satisfied, she placed a green sticker on Faith's metal collar.
Within half an hour all the stakes were occupied and potential buyers viewed the merchandise, checking breasts for firmness and reaching between legs for wetness.
Faith was examined by several men and a few women. Two husky ladies, a couple most likely, madams of a brothel in Chicago, thought she had promise but left her for the afternoon; if she were unsold at the end of the day they could get her for less. She saw Lawrence inspecting the other offerings as well.
By noon seven girls, the youngest, had been purchased and taken away.
Buyers and sellers were preparing to break for lunch when a bolt of lightning not far away startled everyone. A storm was approaching. Thunder rolled, and within minutes a drenching rain poured down; everyone who was not tied to a post ran for cover. The five girls were left out to endure the rain.
Suddenly a brilliant shaft of light struck one of the stakes. The girl attached to it gave a brief scream and hung limp from the charred post. The other four shook with horror at the sight and wondered if they were next.
That was enough for the operators of the market. They declared it over and the buyers went to their cars; all except for the renderer.
When the storm was over, he and his assistant approached the stakes. The nurse briskly removed the lipstick from Faith's mouth and nipples; it had no value where she was going and he advertised his product as all-natural.
They collected the four surviving girls and the carcass of the fifth, leading or carrying them to the black van. A good haul today, he said. They loaded each of them in like logs.
Faith went third, with one living girl beneath her who groaned as she was laid on top. Then the last two, and it was her turn to groan under the weight. The air was close, stifling, she did not see how they could breathe. Of course that did not matter to their new owner; it would save him a step.
Somehow they managed for the short distance to the "clinic", as the slaughterhouse was known. The four living girls were led down a corridor to a room with white walls and no furniture and left to wait until they were summoned for termination.
There was no sign of food or water, no need for it in their last hours; but there was a sandy litter box in a corner and two of the girls squatted in it for a moment.
They stood waiting to be called. All were attractive in their own way, but each was different.
One was tall, lithe, svelte; she would surely have been purchased if the market had not closed halfway through. The second was short and chubby; a less likely choice, but some men liked that. The third was the most striking; of average height but with long dark auburn hair, pale milky skin unmarked by the lash, large firm breasts with dark halos around the nipples.
Just then Nurse entered with four baskets and a shearing clipper. She told the girl to kneel and ran it briskly over her head until the skull was entirely bare, putting the hanks in one basket. She did each of the others until all were bald as eggs, then retired with her trophies.
Naked and shaved from head to foot, the four resembled department store mannequins except for their nipples, and the slits that gave them away as real women.
At first no one spoke. Then the former redhead explained this was how they did it; easier to shear a live kneeling girl than after terminating her when she was horizontal.
Faith thanked her, and with the ice broken they were beginning to chat when Nurse returned and pointed to the tall one. She fell silent and was led out to be terminated.
After a pause, the chubby girl tried to restart the conversation. She said her name was Bree; Faith named herself, and the former redhead said hers was Eileen.
