On the Trail

 ON THE TRAIL
                                                                                                                         Part 1
                                                                                                                     M. Knight
        
    The brisk blue skies and brilliant colors of autumn had made the decision for me. I had been so completely caught up in my work that I was at the point of losing any sense of what the world was all about. I needed a break. I would bolt the city for a long weekend at a north country island I knew as a boy.
 
    The drive was about six hours and although I hadn't been to the island in a long time, the place hadn't changed much. Same old slow ferry across to the landing, same little store that had one or two of almost everything, same old sign saying 'welcome', but not really meaning it, unless you'd been coming there for years.
    I asked at the store if there were still cabins for rent over near the nature center, and yes, there were a few. Go see Mrs. Mitchell.

    Mrs. Mitchell settled me into a cozy place overlooking the lake, but only after she had inquired about my parents, and the occasional relative that used to visit our cottage when we summered there. Oh, yes, she remembered  very well. 
    Still the weather was invigorating and the scenery was if anything better than I recalled. A cozy fire, a dram of my favorite scotch and the sunset on the water. Wonderful. Tomorrow I would hike up the nature trail and recapture some of my flagging vitality.

    The sun had long risen behind the cottage when I awoke but with coffee and a decent breakfast under my belt, I packed a few things in a little backpack and headed for the Nature Center. A new building had risen in my absence, but among the displays were some that I remembered. A somewhat dusty loon and slightly faded gadwall graced the registration desk. Only two entries had been made that morning. A Mr. Whittaker and son at 7:30, and a Ms. E. Cochran about fifteen minutes ahead of me. 
    I made my entry, put a 'donation' in the earthenware jar and asked if all the trails were open. Yes, certainly. Have a nice day.

    I strode manfully out of the center, across the patch of lawn and onto the path that led to the overlook, the inlet and some of the other point of interest. New trail markers, since I was here last, I noticed. Nice. Deep breath and relax. Good.
    Not as many birds as I had expected but the walk was wonderful. I was moving right along and really beginning to relax when I saw a figure sitting on a stone outcropping just ahead. The breeze had tousled her dusty blonde hair and she was doubled over doing something to her shoe. 
    As I drew closer, I realized that I had come across a most uncommon situation.
She was tying her shoe, certainly, but she had just one shoe. One leg. No visible evidence of another. The pole of an aluminum crutch was at her side. More remarkable was the fact that she was dealing with the errant shoestrings with just stumps of arms. A bit of elbow on one side, a simple tapering stump shy of the elbow on the other, the sleeves of her dark blue sweatshirt shortened to the appropriate lengths. I must have reacted pretty obviously because she looked up at me and said,
    "Sorry if I scared you."
    "Scared me?"
    "Mmm. Most people have some kind of reaction like that when they see my stumpy arms."
    She had a strong, elegant face. Dark blue eyes, set below naturally arched eyebrows.
    "My apologies," I said, doing my very best not to stammer. "Can I be of assistance?"
    "Thank you, no," she said as a half smile came across her face. One of the promises I made to myself when we came here this weekend was to be totally self-sufficient. There! See? I really can tie my shoe. Did you see how I did that?"    
    "Well, not really. I was really just looking at your...arms. they're just kind of unusual."
    "I guess they are to every one else," she said, holding them out for her own inspection,
"but they're the hands I was born with and I guess they seem pretty usual to me."
    "Hands?"
    "Yes, well, not really, but they're as close as I'll ever get, so I call them hands. The left one, mostly. This one with the elbow." She wiggled her forearm back and forth. "The right one's not so much a hand, pretty much just arm, but when people talk they usually say hands, so that's what I do too. Like anyone else."
    "Well you certainly seem self sufficient," I said, searching desperately for some appropriate conversation.
    "I was until this spring."
    "This spring?"
    "When I lost my leg. Car crash, became a cripple forever. Here, we're just talking. We're supposed to be walking. I guess you're supposed to be walking aren't you?"
    "Well, yes, but I can certainly go at whatever pace is comfortable for you, if you don't mind the company."
    "Actually, your company would be welcome. I've set out to do the overlook loop this morning to see if my roommate, an old school friend could manage it. Is that on your way?"
    "If it wasn't it is now. Um...Pardon me, but how do you walk with one leg and ...and no..."
    "Here, this is what they've come up with. I can put my left hand into this loop," she said getting up and slipping the end of her left arm into a fixture on the metal shaft of the crutch. "I tried to find something I could use with my right arm too, but so far I haven't found anything that works. I tried one thing with a leather loop and a strap over my shoulder, but when I tried to use it it cut off all the circulation and it hurt the end of my arm and I couldn't really control it any how, so for six months now I've been swinging along on this one crutch. Seems to work. At least I don't have both hands tied down to crutches."
    She waved her right arm around.
    "I still have one hand left to do things with. Ready?"
    When she stood, I realized that she was quite tall and even clothed in heavy sweats she had a very nice figure. 
    "You sure you want to do this? I'm still not too great doing the one-legged cripple thing yet."
    "I'm certainly ready to give it a try. Besides, I think you're a most interesting person, and if I may say so, very attractive."
    "Thank you, sir," she chirped and started to curtsey before she realized that her crutch wasn't so inclined and had to hop about for a moment flailing her little right arm and the crutch to regain her balance.
"Gotta work on that one," she laughed.
    I was beginning to become very attracted to this young lady.

    Ten minutes later we were up the trail, and had made the appropriate introductions.
She was indeed the E. (for Emma) Cochran that had signed in ahead of me.
    "When we were talking before," I said, "you mentioned an old schoolmate. Where did you go to school?" expecting to hear the name of a college or university.
    "Oh. That. When I was little my folks sent me to special school for a while to see of they could persuade me to use artificial arms and hands. Hooks."
    "Why did they have to persuade you?"
    "'Cause I hated them. They're hot and heavy and they hurt and I felt like some kind of Sci-fi monster in them. And you can't feel anything, you know?" She shuddered. "My right arm is above the elbow so with that you have a choice either to be able to move the forearm or open the hook. Big help. And my left hand is so small that it just slipped around inside the prosthesis and got all red and really hurt when I tried to use the left forearm. Besides, I could do just about everything perfectly well without them. Even tie my shoes. I had two shoes then."
    She moved along holding the crutch close to her body, keeping the tip of it almost under her as she moved. Her right "hand" made little circles in the air with each step. Even moving in this way she was had the grace of a dancer or gymnast.
    "You were talking about your roommate."
    "No," she smiled over her shoulder at me, "you were. You were asking me about her."
    "True."
    "Well that school I mentioned is where I met Sassy. Her name's actually Sara, but everybody calls her Sassy."
    "Like Sarah Vaughn the singer?" 
    "No, just because she's so...well, you'd have to meet her."
    "I'd like that."
    "What? I'm not good enough, right away you want to check out my roommate?"
    She broke into peals of laughter. "I'm sorry, that was rude. It was just too good a straight line to let pass. Forgive me?"
    I was laughing too. We worked our way along the trail, Emma's crutch now and again becoming tangled in a bramble, but no major problems. She moved  elegantlly, pushing branches aside with her right "hand" as she moved along. The path had become steeper now and she hopped up on the rocky ledge that formed the overlook.
 
    "You ready for a break?" I asked. "There's a seat here where you can see the different islands and watch the boats."
    "I am ready for a break," she said. "This hopalong hiking is pretty tiring but I guess I'll get stronger as time goes by."
    She leaned her crutch on the side of the bench and sat. She sat gingerly. I could see now that there was no evidence of any leg stump on her left side. 
    "Thirsty, too." she said. "Should have brought some water or something. Guess I thought I'd have my hands full just navigating."
    "Galahad to the rescue!"
    I pulled two bottles of spring water from my pack and offered Emma one. She took it from me before I thought to open it. Pressing it into the chasm of her bosom with her right arm, she grasped the top with her left "hand" as she called it and rotating the bottle with her right arm deftly opened the bottle. She saw me staring.
    "What?"
    "Just fascinated by the way you can do things."
    "Oh, good. I thought for a minute there you were staring at my boobs," She giggled mischievously.
    "Well, that too. You do have a great body."
    "Why, thank you, again, Sir Galahad!  At least I used to."
    "Used to?"
    She sipped her water, resting the bottle on her right arm and steadying it with her left.
    "Before the accident. My left hip is pretty messed up. Sometimes I wear padding to help fill out the shape, but the sand is pretty much missing from that side of the hourglass. Even just sitting is a little awkward. Can't wear a leg. Nothing to hang it on."

    We sat quietly for a few minutes. She was looking out at the lake, but it was clear that her thoughts were somewhere else. I offered her a granola bar I'd stuck in my pack.
    "Thanks," she said, tearing the wrapper with her teeth. She nibbled at the bar, holding it in both 'hands'.
    "You were asking me about Sassy," she said after while. I met her at the school and we've stayed in touch over the years. When I had my accident and my boyfriend deserted me, I didn't mention that, did I? Anyhow she got on a plane and came out to my place to help me get over the operation and get back on my fee..my foot again. She's a remarkable woman. She really is."
    She turned and looked directly into my eyes. After a while she spoke again.
    "I don't know if you'll ever meet her or not, but Sassy is far more handicapped, to use the word, than I am, even with my leg gone.
The fact that she managed to get herself onto a plane and came to help me tells you a lot about her. Maybe you should meet her."

    We sat and looked out at the sailboats on the lake, and listened to the various bird  songs that floated on the autumn breeze. An orchard oriole flitted into the high branches of a old oak.
    "I don't suppose they have any comfort stations herebouts..." she said looking around.
    "I don't think so. At least they never used to," I said. "Being of the male persuasion, I usually just step off the trail and find a friendly tree."
    "Well, being of the female persuasion and in need of some immediate relief, I suspect I'll be obliged to do something similar."
    She stood up and hopped into the low bushes back along the the side of the trail. I turned my gaze to the lake.
    "Hey, Galahad!" came a cry.
    "What?"
    "I think I'm going to need a little help, if you can stand the idea!"
    "What can I do?"
    "Well, without my other leg I can't squat, so I've been learning how to pee standing up. Now don't laugh, OK? A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. Problem is that the technique requires both hands so I can't use my crutch and I keep losing my balance on this hillside. Could you just kind of steady me?"
    She was facing a stately maple tree that showed recent evidence of other passers by in need of relief.
    "Just hold me around the waist, OK?"
    I stepped behind her and did just that. She lowered her sweats, tipped her pelvis slightly foreward, reached down with both arms and produced a strong neat stream.
    "Is it true that you men never speak to each other when you pee?" she asked over her shoulder.
    "Not usually, I said, "unless the're is a conversation already underway. One generally doesnt start anything under those circumstances."
    "Keyword: start anything, right?"
    "Exactly."
    She finished up.
    "All better?" I asked.
    "All better," she smiled, pulling up her sweats. "Thank you. I'll try not to embarass you further."
    "No embarassment at all," I smiled. "Even if your bottom is a little lopsided, it's still mighty cute."
    "Now, now!" she giggled. She had a laugh that sounded like music, there in the woods overlooking the lake.

    I excused myself for  the short time required to take care of my own personal needs and we started back As we moved along the trail I asked her about her roommate. "If she's as  handicapped as you say, do you think she'll be able to handle the trail?"
    "I don't know. She's just so bloody determined. She wanted to come this morning, but we hadn't seen the trail so we didn't know what she'd need to get herself around. She has a skateboard she uses, but that's really only good on sidewalks. We'll have to see what we can rig up to do the trail. I'm not too sure about getting up the ledge though. May have to help her with that."
    "I'll be here until Tuesday, so if I can be of any help..."
    "Thanks. May take you up on that. Ohmigosh look what time it is!"
    She had pushed the sleeve of her right arm up to reveal a delicate gold watch.
    "Something?" 
    "Oh, it's just that I promised Sassy I'd be back to make lunch. I guess I'd better hustle."
    At that she sarted down the trail at a faster pace, taking two hops to every move of the crutch. She was moving well, taking each turn in the trail with ease and grace when a rock suddenly tipped under her crutch. The crutch flew out of her grasp and she went hopping wildly, then tumbling down the trail.
    "EMMA! Are you OK?"
    "OK? Do I look OK?" she shrieked back. "Oh, so damned stupid, trying to run like that. Owww!"
    "What?"
    "My ankle. I've done something godawful to my ankle."
    She was half sitting, half rolling on the ground, pawing at her leg.
    "Just what a one-legged cripple girl needs!" She blurted as I ran to her side, "Don't have a spare anymore. Damn! Damn! Damn! Well, Mr. Galahad, what do we do now? How in heavens name are we going to get back? I can't walk, that's for sure." 
    I knelt and put my arms under her and straightened up. She didn't weigh as much as I expected. She hooked her left arm around my neck and I took a couple of tentative steps along the trail. Her body was soft and warm against my chest.

    "Are you sure you can carry me the whole way?" Her eyes were hot with pain, but very beautiful.
    "Yes, I think so."
    "Stupid thing, trying to run like that. My brain's still not used to being one-legged. If I wasn't a total cripple before, I am now. Damn."
    "It's probably just a little sprain. You'll be as good as new in no time."
    "I'll never be good as new. I had two legs when I was new."
    "Sorry."
    "Never mind. Aren't we forgetting something?"
    "What?"
    "My crutch."
    "I'll come back and get it for you tomorrow morning."  Emma was in pain and her roommate needed lunch. "You certainly won't be able to use it any more today."
    "That's for sure."
    Her little forearm nub felt good around my neck, and it was interesting to watch her push twigs and branches aside with her right "hand".
    "Oh my gosh, how'm I going to make lunch? Sassy can't reach things in the cabin to get anything for herself. Really stupid. Maybe there's some sort of a stool or something I can sit on."
    "If you'll permit the unexpected intrusion, I'm a fair short order cook," I offered.
    "Might just have to accept that offer. I'm sorry, really I am."
    "No problem."
    Within fifteen minutes we had reached the Nature Center. 
    "Is your cabin far?" I asked.
    "No, that's one good thing, it's right over there," she said, pointing to a little cottage just beyond a row of Lombardy Poplars.
    "Wait," she said as we arrived at the door, "I've got the key in the pocket of my shirt, if I didn't drop it back there."
    I adjusted my hold so she could have free use of her arms.
    "No, It's here," she said with obvious relief and using her little arms she nursed the key from her breast pocket.
    "Here," she said, maybe you'd better do it. I have a hard enough time with keys even when I don't have a sprained ankle or whatever."

    The door opened easily and the air was warm inside.
    "Hi, Sass," she called, "I'm back"
    As I pushed the door open and started to carry Emma in, a stubby little figure wobbled out into the hall.
    "About time, Em! What the hell took you...Oh my gosh!"
    Before us stood, if stood is the right word, a torso of a woman, completely armless and topless, for that matter, wearing only a pair of cut-off jeans that revealed that the only vestage of a limb the woman had was a short, tapering right leg stump perhaps five inches in length. Nothing visible on the left. 
    I was so completely taken aback that I nearly dropped my passenger.

    "Emma, this is 'Sir Galahad'. That's not really his name, but he was kind enough to bring me home after I fell and screwed up my one and only ankle."
    Sassy looked at us in amazement, her short auburn locks catching the sun. She had two of the most remarkably outstanding breasts I have ever seen. 
    "Wish I'd known you were bringing a guest home, Emma. I might have gotten dressed! Oh, well, I guess he'll have to take me as he finds me. Welcome, Mr. Galahad, " she said and wobbled along on her rump into the living room.

    "Why don't you put her there," she said, aiming one of her torpedos at the couch.
    "What the hell did you do to yourself, Em?"
    "Oh, Sassy, I was worried about the time and knew you needed me back here for lunch, so I started rushing down the trail and tripped or something and turned my ankle. Hurts like all get out at the moment, but I guess it'll be OK. If it's not better in the morning I'll have to go back to the mainland and go to a doctor. I'm just glad to be back. Oh, Galahad here volunteered to make lunch if that's OK with you."
    "That's cool with me," Sassy said, "I tried to get the fridge open but no luck there. Wasn't going to chip another tooth and everthings too high to reach with my boobs."
    Sassy saw what must have been quite a reaction on my face.
    "Well, that's what they're called, isn't it?"
    She waved her breasts back and forth and chuckled.
  "I guess I'm going to have to hang out with more men, Ems. Get a lot more positive reaction. Women mostly look at me like I'm some kind of freaky pervert. But hey, ya gotta go with what Mama Nature gives you, right? No arms or legs to mention but she came up with nice big boobs that I'm learning to use. Gotta problem with that, Hotshot?
    "N..n.no. No indeed. Whatever works, I guess," I stammered.
    "He's cute, Emma. At least you caught us a cute one. Actually, Mr. Galahad, they don't work worth a hoot. Way to soft and floppy, but at least they're getting big enough that I can do a few things for myself."

    She looked down at her chest and jiggled her left breast, then the right one.
  "They're no substitute for arms. Not even close. Wish they were but they're not. They're just fatty glandular tissue hung on muscle that's designed to do something else. No fingers either unless you count those pink things sticking out at the end. Not really what I'd like but when it's all you got, you try. You just have to try. Hey, is it too warm in here for you? I like it warm  so I can run around like this."
    "Well, I would like to hang up my  jacket."
    "Sure, There's a little closet by the door there. Emma give him your stuff too so he can hang it up."
    Emma pushed her sweat pants off, leaving her in a red silk panties. What she had said about her hip was true. There was a concave place where a leg might have been and about half of the expected amount of buttock on that side. Pulling the top over her head Emma said,  "I usually take my bra off too when Sassy's around. Sort of makes her less self conscious. Think you can handle another bare pair?"
    "Figure of speech, of course?" 
    "Of course. "
    She handed me her things and my estimate had been close, but she had an even better figure than I had thought. Nothing to compare with the sheer size and vitality of her roomate's, but the sort of perfect breasts that sees in many men's magazines. I tried not to let my hands tremble as I hung up our things.
    "So, OK, sport, check out the fridge and see what you come up with," Sassy chirped.
    I found the ingredients for omelets and toast with jam and made tea. Nothing too spectacular but as Sassy said, you go with what you got. There were other possibilities that would have taken longer, but the young ladies were hungry, and quite honestly so was I.
    "Where shall I set the table?"
    "We've been eating at the coffee table," said Emma, 'cause it's just about right for Sassy, but maybe I should stay here on the couch. My ankle's starting to swell."
    "Now, c'mon, Emma, The man's making a nice lunch for us, let's eat at the table."
    "I can't lift you up to the table with this ankle, Sassy, honest."
    "Would you do the honors, stud?" Sassy asked me.
    And so my day continued to present one incredible moment after another as I lifted the wriggling Sassy and the delightfully soft and appreciative Emma to seats at the dining room table. The omelettes were served on warmed plates, tea was poured, and the lunch began. 

        Emma placed a fork into the crook of her left 'hand', as she calls it, and ate as any person might. She buttered the toast as easily, steadying it with the tip of her right arm. She passed a piece to Sassy. As far as her arms were concerned, she seemed very comfortable.
    Sassy leaned foreward against the edge of the table, spreading those breasts out to each side of her plate and managed to eat quite gracefully, taking small bites directly from the plate with her lips and teeth as the conversation continued.
    "We were trying to figure out how to get uou up the trail," Emma was saying. "It's way to rough for your skateboard. I think you're going to have to use that peg leg thing they made for you."
    "I haven't had that rig on in two years. I did send it along up here, though. It's back in my room with my stuff. Maybe after lunch we can try it out and see if it'll work. Did you mean use it with the short peg and walk on that and use a stump boot or try to use those irom maiden crutches?"
    "Did you send the iron maiden thing too?"
    "Yeah. I figured something might happen so I just sent everything but my chair. Hey, this omelette's good. Thank you."
    "You're welcome," I said. "By the way, If you both feel up to it, I could take you both over to my cabin this evening. I've got some provisions on hand and I could make a decent dinner for us all."
    "Sounds tempting," Emma said. "Would we have to dress for dinner?"
    "No, indeed. Unless, of course you want to. I've got plenty of firewood, so  we can be just as cozy as it is here."
    "I'm up for it, Sassy, how about you?"
    "Hey, you know me. I'm a regular party animal!"

ON THE TRAIL
                                                                                                                                     Part 2
                                                                                                                               M. Knight

        
    "Sassy, why don't you get out that iron maiden rig and maybe our bew friend can help you with it," Emma said. You could even try it out tonight walking over to his cabin, then he'd only have one person to carry."
    I lowered Sassy's limbless torso from her chair and as I took care of the dishes she toddled back to her room from which I could hear some thumping noises. Eventually she returned with an assortment of aluminum tubing and plastic forms draped over her narrow shoulders.

    "Here's the stuff," she said, brushing her breasts together, as if dusting them off. It was really disconcerting to watch her moving those big breasts the way people do their arms or hands. Even with that she was quite pleasant to be around. Her face was warm and open and her ready smile quickly put me at ease.
    "How does it work?" I asked.
    "The plastic forms go around my chest," she said, "My shoulders are too small and soft to support anything  so they figured out this way to clamp the forms around my ribs and the metal rods get tightened down on each side. They can be adjusted by twisting them, pulling them to the right length, then twisting the other way."
    She wobbled her way into the center of the pile.
    "This contraption here is a kind of bucket my bottom goes in.  These," she said pointing her left breast at two rods, one about two feet long the other about five inches, "are the peg legs that screw into it. If I wear a special padded boot on my leg, I can motor right along on the shorty version."
    "How's the 'iron maiden' work?"
    "That uses the longer peg. Hey, did you have something else planned for this afternoon?"
    "Not at all. Just taking the weekend off here on the island."
    "Well, OK, then. You want me to try it on?" 
    "Sure."
    "We can save some time if you help, OK? I used to be able to get into this rig alone but it takes like forever."
    "What shall I do?"
    "Take my jeans off."
    "Pardon me?"
    Emma doubled over with laughter.
    "Take my jeans off," Sassy repeated, laughing herself. "I can't fit into the bucket with jeans on."
    "Fair enough."
    I removed her little cut off jeans, leaving her bottom as bare as her top.
    "OK, so I don't wear panties. One less thing to deal with in the bathroom. I do have to wear something on the bucket, though, or I'll get chafed to kingdom come. Here," she said aiming a  breast at some cotton things, "put those panties on me. The ones with just one leg. I can't pee wearing this bucket, but that's the way things go."
    I fitted the cotton panties onto her pelvis, adjusting the fit around her leg stump.
    "You got great hands, kid. He's got great hands, don't you think, Em?"
    Emma laughed again. That wonderful musical laugh.

    "So, OK, the next thing is set me in the bucket. Don't put the peg in it yet. Right, with my leg sticking out. Good. And buckle the strap. Perfecto."
    All of this was giving me a incredible rush.
    "Now, while I'm still upright, strap the plastic chest forms on me. Get the places where my boobs fit in lined up and the rest should fall into, place. I tried to make them cut out holes for my boobies but they said the rig wouldn't be strong enough that way. I can't move at all inside it. Barely breathe. That's why I call it an iron maiden. Lordy I hate feeling so strapped in. OK, all buckled up?"
    "All done."
    "OK. Now, lets build the rest of the machine. You want to do my peg or the crutches next? Doesn't really matter."
    With that she toppled over backward, just missing hitting her head on the floor.
    "Better do the peg first, then adjust the crutches to length. Screw that long thing in, stud, go go go!"
    They both broke into peals of laughter. I might have been embarrassed but their laughter saved the day.

    "OK, now put the crutches on. See where they fasten at the sides? Undo the wingnut and put it on and tighten the wingnut again. Right. And the other side. Cool. Now, all ready?"
    "I guess so."
    "OK, get around behind me and lift me up. EASY...OK, There. That's it."
    There in the center of the cottage living room stood Sassy on one aluminum peg leg, nearly five feet tall, her little bare stump waving around under her. She was supported and steadied by the two aluminum props that were fixed to the sides of the plastic forms enclosing her chest.
    "We gotta adust the crutches," she said. "They're too far back. They need to be one more notch foreward."
    "This set up is different from what you had at the shool," Emma said while I adjusted the angle of the crutches.. 
    "Yep. I didn't have boobs then. When I developed they changed the chest forms and attached the crutches lower. Actually works better. I use the same bucket for both short and long, too. Leaves my leg hanging out and Oh, guess what! I can use my leg to push the elevator button!"
    "Great," said Emma. "You usually use your right, uh.. nipple otherwise?" 
    "The one at home, yes," said Sassy. "Some of the others I have to use my nose or chin or something. I still can't reach up very high."
    "Take a couple of steps around the room," Emma said, "show him how you can walk."
    With some effort, Sassy leaned back onto her single peg, arched her back angling the crutches foreward then leaned into the new position. She then lifted her bottom and hopped the peg up between the crutches.
    "Hey! What do you think? Pretty decent, eh?" She took a short tour around the room.
    "In case you hadn't noticed, this is one hell of a lot of work," she said. "I can get around a lot better and faster on my fanny. Plus I can use my boobs. I can do this if necessary, though. Maybe I'm just out of practice. They worked so hard with me at the institute. They really wanted to find some way for me to stand up and walk around."
    "You feel up to going over to his place in that rig?" Emma asked.
    "Shoot, I'm all trussed up like a Christmas turkey, I might as well try it."
    And so I Got Emma's clothes and my jacket, Sassy's short peg, found a coat for her and a few minutes later with Emma in my arms and Sassy in her threepoint rig we had set out for my cabin.
    Once inside, with Sassy steady on her props, I put Emma on my daybed and started a fire in the fireplace.
    "Hey this place is nice," said Sassy. "your view is better than ours. Mind if I take a look around as long as I've got this rig on? I can see better from up here."
    "By all means. Make yourself at home."

    Sassy plodded off around the cabin and I sat down next to Emma. She took my hand in her arm stumps and stroked it.
    "You really do have nice hands," she said looking at my hand. "What does it feel like? To have hands, I mean. Real hands." I had no answer.
    She looked at the ends of her arms. 
    "No, that's OK. I was just thinking out loud," she said very quietly. She held the ends of her arms together and wriggled the little forearm stub on her left arm. The muscles in her right arm became tense, then relaxed . 
    "Sometimes I try to see if I can wiggle my fingers. If I close my eyes and pretend, sometimes I think I can feel them. I guess that's stupid. They're just ugly dumb stumps.
That's all. Ugly stumps."
    "They're not ugly, Emma. Really. They're just as beautiful as the rest of you." I took the ends of her arms in my hands and looked into her deep blue eyes. "I think these hands of yours are as wonderful as any hands I've ever seen. Besides, They're the hands you were born with, aren't they?"
    She nodded.
    "And nothing's been chopped off, has there?"
    She shook her head.
    "Then you can't very well call them stumps, can you?"
    She looked at her arms, then up to my eyes. Then she put her arms around my neck and kissed me.
    "Hey you love birds, let's keep it under control!" came the teasing voice of Sassy as she thumped back into the living toom.
    "Great place," she continued. "So how's about getting me out of this straight jacket now? Case you don't remember I can't go to the john in this rig."
    Emma and I both laughed a little and I went to Sassy's rescue.
    "How's your ankle doin, Em?" she asked as I unbuckled the various straps.
    "Feels a little better, really," she said stroking her ankle. "Still pretty swollen, though."
    "Good. Not broken. It'd be getting worse, not better," she said as she rolled out of the chest armor. "Hey, you got anything to drink?"
    I listed the contents of the portable bar I had brought with me, "and I have some wine to go with dinner."
    "Where'd you find this guy?" Sassy asked as I started to lift her up, "He's great. No, get this cotton underwear off me too, would you, hotshot? I love to feel nice carpet like this in my toes."
    More laughter.
    "Fix me a bourbon with just ice, no water, OK, I'll be right back, I hope."
    And with some care, I tipped her into an upright position and she started swivelling her way back to the bathroom. 

    I sat down on the daybed beside Emma who was still concerned with her 'hands'.
    "I wish I could pick up change from the counter or a paper clip. I wish I could do a lot of things like that. And I wish people wouldn't stare at me when I do just anything at all. Ever sinci I was a little kid. Makes me feel like some carnival freak or something. Why can't people just accept that my hands are different and not get so uptight about it." I hugged her. She was quiet for a time then said, 
    "But then, when I see Sassy, I realize I'm not so bad off. Then, too" she said, waving her stumps at me, "think of the money I save on nail polish!"
    She giggled.
    "Actually one time my brother painted fingernails on my stumps ...no, I won't call them that anymore, on the tips of my arms when I was in high school. Funny. At least I thought it was."

    "Hey, Emma, you still an invalid?" came a call from the bathroom.
    "Fraid so. I guess I could crawl back there on my hands and knees...er knee."
    "No, that's OK. I just can't reach the john paper from the seat here. I've been trying but I keep falling over."
    "Be right there," I volunteered, as Emma nodded her agreement.
    "How'd you get up there? I asked the enthroned Sassy as I entered the little bathroom.
    "Crawled up on the side of the tub and then hooked my chin on the sink and swung over. Figured it out when I was touring in the 'iron maiden'. Didn't figure the distance to the paper roller though."
    I took a few squares from the roll and began to dry my guest's privates.
    "Well, thanks, there, fella. Didn't expect full service," she said. "Betcha this a first for you isn't it?"
    "A number of things have been firsts today," I smiled.
     "Thanks. I can do  a lot of things for myself, but a little assistance goes a long way. Lift me down now will you sport? I'm ready for that drink."

    The fire had made the cabin as warm as their place when I carried the naked torso of Sassy back to the living room. 
    "Damn, you still got your clothes on?" Sassy chuckled at Emma. "Why don't you get comfortable?" Emma began by taking off the top of her heavy sweats. 
    "For that matter, stud, I don't know why we're the only ones showin' off our wares.  How's about a peek at thast manly chest of yours?"
    "Sassy, you're terrible!" Emma said. The guy's nice enough to take care of us and cook dinner, don't be a pain!"
    "Oh, all right, Miss Prim!""
    "No problem," I said. Don't want to be the odd man out here!"    
In fact the room was so warm that the prompting by Sassy was welcome.
    I  hung my shirt and Emma's top back in my closet, changed into shorts and started to make some drinks.
    I fixed Sassy's bourbon and started a scotch for myself. 
    "Emma?"
    "Scotch, too, please, if there's enough."

    I sliced some cheese onto a plate and dumped some crackers into a little basket I found in the kichen. Mrs. Mitchell had seen to it that certain things were always there for her renters.
    "Where do you want to sit? or stand or whatever?" I asked Sassy.
    "By golly, I think he's getting with the program," she laughed and headed for the daybed. "Give me a boost, will ya, sport? There's room for three up there isn't there?"
    "Sure." I boosted her up, she swivelled around and said,"OK, I'm ready, hand me that nice drink."
    I held the drink in front of her. She shrugged her little shoulders, closing her breasts on the glass and raised it. "Here's to a great day. Em's ankle is just a little strain, and she's found a new friend!"
Enmma raised her glass. "Here here!"
    So the three of us, sitting on the daybed, celebrated the day. Sassy took the edge of the glass in her teeth and gently took a little sip of her drink, returning the glass to her bosom.
    "Hey, I got my hands full. Could somebody fix me a piece of cheese, please?"
     Emma placed a bit of cheese on a cracker and presented it balanced neatly on the tapered tip of her right arm. The fact that she had to reach across in front of me gave me ample opportunity to appreciate that most perfect figure. This was a very nice day.

    The sun began to get close to the horizon, and the calories made the room even warmer. Emma looked at my shorts and decided that her sweatpants had to go. She handed me her drink and pushed at the the sweats. They and her red silk undies suddenly hit the floor together, leaving her as well-dressed as her roommate. 
    "Whoops!" she  said. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to expose the place where my leg used to be." I quickly handed her the scotch. "I know it's not very pretty even though they did their best."
    "Emma, It's not a problem. Really." 
  "You don't mind ?" 
    "Not in the slightest." The surgery scar was nearly invisible on her hip but some distortion remained.
    "More comfortable?"
    "I am, really." she put her drink down and got some cheese and a cracker for herself.
    "I just didn't want you to see right away. I know I look funny down there and I feel a little strange about being ...um, bald, too."
    "Oh?"
    "That happened in the hospital. When I woke up I had no leg and no pubic hair. For the follow up surgeries they did it again. Then when I was home it looked so weird, all sort of one-sided when it started to grow in so I just started shaving myself. What do you think, Sassy? You saw it before. Do I look better like this?"
    "Yep. A bunch. More nude, I'd say, than naked. How does it feel? I mean itchy or anything? Reason I ask is that I step on my fun fur a lot when I run around barefoot and it hurts like hell. Anything I should know?"

    As Emma began her discourse on the ins and outs of feminine shaving, I excused myself from the conversation, freshened the drinks and the fire and stepped over to the kitchen area to begin supper.
    What Mrs. Mitchell had put in the refrigerator was a good-sized steak, peas and greens for a salad. In a basket on the counter were some potatoes suitable for baking.
    "Can we eat at the coffee table?" Emma asked. "Sassy does better there and considering how we're dressed, I think I'd be more comfortable there, too. Is that OK? And we can watch the fire."
    While the potatos baked another round of drinks was poured.

    "Oh this is such fun," Emma said, stretching out on the daybed. Sassy had slid down ont the floor and was leaning over the coffee table. As I watched, she rubbed her right nipple back and forth along the edge of a picture book. Within a few seconds the nipple enlarged and became quite firm. Then she repeated the sequence with her left breast. She saw me watching her.
    "Like I said, not fingers, but it's what I got and that's how I have to do it." Then she used these now-erect appendages to open one of the books that lay on the table. "This is a neat book," she said, leafing through its pages. "Tells all about the history of the lake area and its wildlife. I really have to do that trail tomorrow. I mean, that's the whole reason I came out here. If Hopalong over there isn't up to it, are you available, Galahad?"
    "I'm available until Tuesday, Sassy. After that you're on your own. Ok, ladies how do you like your steak?"

    A few minutes later places were set at the coffee table, the wine was poured and the meal was served.
    I don't remember the conversation. I was far too fascinated by the women dealing with their steak, peas, potatos and salad. And their wineglasses.
    Emma had captured the stem of her wineglass in the crook of her elbow and proposed a toast. Sassy enclosed a glass between her breasts and lifted it in reply.
    The firelit image of Emma cutting her steak and Sassy's by pressing a fork down with her little right arm and cutting it with a knife held in her elbow will be with me forever. Sassy, with obvious pleasure, managed to pick up a fork between her breasts and locate the tip under the morsel she fancied. Then she lowered one of those magnificent mammeries on the handle of the fork and tipped it up so that she could eat from a fork "like everyone else". The potato was nibbled directly as the omelette at lunch had been. I've tried to remember every second. The conversation eludes me now, but the images remain. 

    "I don't do dishes," Sassy said, I do recall that. "I can, believe it or not, I just don't."
    I carried the dishes to the sink. When I turned, the two girls had their heads together, eyeing me and giggling.
    "We've decided that because you rescued me and made both lunch and dinner," said Emma, "that we should be very nice to you tonight."
    Being very nice to me was the understatement of all  time. Slowly, one little move at a time, they teased me, tickled me, got me out of my shorts and up on the daybed. 
    That whole night was spent in every possible, every conceivable kind of lovemaking.
Each girl devised some special new treat as the other was driving me mad with something only a woman of her physical description could accomplish. They wouldn't even allow me to become exhausted. At any sign of flagging energy I was immediately teased by the pair back into some semblance of vitality. Mercifully, by dawn I had become unconscious and slept until noon.

    The smell of freshly brewed coffee returned me to life, and I opened one eye to see a cup and saucer balanced on Sassy's two big boobs. Emma was curled up beside me.

    "Good morning, Sir Galahad," Sassy said, her eyes shining. 

    "Ready for day number two?"