The Flood

Thank you for reading my Story, I hope that you enjoy it. I do love to hear what you think of my efforts. Xxx Mica xxx

The rain had been falling for about two weeks, it just never seemed to stop. Josh and I were pretty much cut off and had been for about 2 days. We only had overhead supplied electricity as a main service here, we were pretty remote in the dales. We had solar panels and batteries as backups, but, well, we haven't seen any blue skies or sun in weeks, our batteries were low and we were keeping them for emergencies should the overhead line fail. We had a good supply of dried wood that we were slowly working our way down, when we boiled water, any unused we put in a thermos, anything we could to save energy usage. So far the electricity supply had held, but it was flaky and would often cut out for hours.

"Mom," Josh yelled from out back.

"Yes Josh baby, what?"

"Shall I light the Aga? We can cook tea and make some bread too."

"Yes, I will get some meat out of the fridge."

I hated opening the freezer, when the electric finally went, which it surely would, we would have to use the generator and we only had about 300 gallons of diesel, and that was also needed for the tractor and with all the roads flooded, we had no chance of getting any more, not for at least a month, the roads would need several weeks to dry out after the floods receded. The longer I kept the freezer shut, the colder it stayed. I usually opened it only when necessary. Tea tonight would be the last of our defrosted meat, so, the freezer had to be opened to get another few days of frozen meat out to defrost. Showers were once a week and not piping hot, but we kept clean, body washes daily and Sunday was our shower day. The AGA gave us warm water, but our shower was electric, just the mishmash cobble together way things are done in old farmhouses.

We had moved up here to this old dale farm about ten years ago, but very sadly Paul, Josh's dad, passed a few years after we moved, and then shortly after that our livestock was decimated by TB, and we couldn't afford to replace it. We managed to get a few ewes and a ram, and they wee able to keep us pretty self-sufficient in lamb and mutton, as long as we were frugal, and we processed the meat ourselves. We also got our milk from the ewes too. We occasionally swapped some mutton for pork with a neighbouring farm. We grow and harvest our own hay which we feed to the sheep over winter. It can be quite labour intensive when we harvest the hay, but mostly we just tick along. We grew a few potatoes too, and runner beans, using seeds from the previous year's crop. We had considered getting chickens, but, well, just hadn't gotten around to it. We aren't eligible for subsidies, so, Pauls widow's pension is what we have to live on.

We have an old Massey Ferguson tractor with a front bucket and some forks, plus a bale spike, a flail mower, harrow, baler, trailer and a few other bits and pieces. Everything we have is old, but doesn't require any computers to maintain, it is all manual. Josh and I have both learnt how to service the equipment, and as long as nothing major goes wrong, we are okay, we don't need anyone else. One of the neighbouring farmers did offer to combine our hay for us but when I learned what his price was, and I have too much dignity for that, I declined.

As the Aga was warming, Josh and I walked down the track to see how high the water was.

"Shit mum, that's at least ten feet deep if not more."

"Language Josh. Yes, that is going to take a very long time to dry out and I am worried for this year's hay if that doesn't dry out soon, I don't want us to have to seed it, and fertilise it, that is an expense we don't need."

"Sorry mum, but that is the deepest I have ever seen it here. We are pretty much stuck. Helicopter would be the only way in."

"Crumbs. I know, but luckily, we are pretty much okay. We ought to check that the telephone is still working when we get back, and make sure the mobile is charged."

Our telephone is goodness knows how many years old and is on the kitchen wall with an outside repeater bell so we can hear it when we are on the farm. It is so old it has a rotary dial. Our mobile is also quite old, doesn't do internet or stuff, but we can ring and text if required. We have to be upstairs to use it as it doesn't get a connection downstairs. So it tends to live in my bedroom where there is a spare charger socket. But anyway, who are we going to ring?

As we were walking back, oh I don't know, perhaps I wasn't looking where I was going, I turned my ankle. It was so stupid, one moment I am walking and the next I am falling to the floor.

"Ouch," I said, loudly, and then when I tried to stand up, "oh shit."

"Mum, what? Are you okay?"

"No Josh. I have twisted my ankle and I can't stand up."

"Do you want to hold onto me and I will try and get you to your feet and then we can hop back?"

It was worth a try. I nodded. Josh held me in my armpits, I put as much weight as I could on my good ankle, and Josh managed to get me to my feet. Oh my, that ankle hurt.

"Josh, no, I can't move, the pain is too much. Rest me on the grass by the fence post. I will sit and wait until the pain dies down."

We moved, very slowly, to the fence and Josh helped me to sit down. The rain was still teeming and showed no signs of abating. Pity it was warm spring rain and not cold winters, at least winter rain would have helped cool my ankle which felt very hot to the touch.

"I'll go and get the tractor and bale trailer, at least I can get you back to the house on that."

"Okay baby. I will be fine, just don't be like your silly mum, look where you are going, we can't have both of out of commission."

Josh turned and headed back up the track and I leant back on the post. Now he was gone I could cry and I did. Oh fuck this hurt, and I mean really hurt. I noticed my breath was raggedy, perhaps I was in shock There had been no 'crack' so I didn't think it was broken, just a bad sprain or similar. Luckily we had some Metformin and Vetrofen from the vet that we sometimes used on the sheep, not supposed to be for humans, but, what are you going to do? Working out the dosage was going to be interesting.

Eventually my sobbing stopped, and I sat there gulping. I was pretty much soaked to the skin, rain had gone down my collar, I hadn't noticed that my hood had come off and basically I was absolutely sodden right through to my skin. I would deal with that when I got back to the farm. For now I just had to wait on Josh. I heard the Massey as he approached. Thank goodness, I knew I was struggling. The pain was intense and my body was shivering in shock too. The Massey appeared, oh, it had no trailer, just the front loader bucket.

Josh pulled up and then turned so that the tractor bucket was just in front of me, it was full of hay I noticed.

"I decided that the bucket would be easier to get you into as I can get it down to ground level both here and back at the house. I put hay in it to try and make it a bit more comfortable."

Good thinking, "Good plan, but we need to go now Josh, I know enough to know I am in shock and I need to get back and dry and warm and get some medication. No matter if I cry or scream can we get me into the bucket and back home? I can't promise that I will be quiet, but I need us to get me into the house."

"Okay mum, right, can you shuffle your bum across and roll into the bucket? Once you are in, I can slowly curl it back so that you don't fall out."

I took a deep breath and inched myself across to the bucket, my dear Lord but that hurt. Just dragging my injured ankle almost made me black out. Eventually, it felt like hours, but was only a few minutes, I had my backside in the bucket, I shuffled back so that I was leaning against the side of it.

"Mum, no other way, but I am going to lift both your legs fully into the bucket. Hold on to something."

I expected he would take a minute and then do it, but no, he just bent down and picked both legs up and twisted me so that they were in the bucket. I know I screamed. The pervert farmer over the hill probably knew too. Josh got into the tractor and curled the bucket. Bless him, he did it so slowly, but still my leg moved and I was crying with the pain by the time he stopped.

"Okay mum, you look safe, I don't think you will fall out. It is going to be bumpy, sorry, but I will go slowly and we will get you back as soon as."

I just nodded, I don't think I had the capability of speaking. I have given birth, I have broken an arm, but nothing, ever, in my life even came close to this pain.

'It's just a sprain,' I told myself.

Josh backed the tractor up and then we set off up the track. It was about a mile from where we were back to the house and Josh went slowly, but I was still bumped and banged about. There was no other way, we don't own a vehicle with suspension that I could get into. Our family car was a diesel series three Land Rover and the suspension on that was, well, let's just say it was probably worse than the tractor. At least the bucket swayed up and down more than jolted, but the pain was intense and I may have blacked out a little on the way back.

I felt Josh shaking my shoulder. As I came to, my ankle waved a cheery hello. That got my attention.

"Mum, mum, are you alright? We are home."

"Yes baby." I took a moment and a deep breath. "I wonder, if you uncurl the bucket, but don't lower it all the way to the ground, I wonder if we can swing my legs out and I can hop out on my good leg."

"Yes mum, just what I was thinking."

Josh slowly levelled out the bucket and then he lowered it a little.

"It was too high for your good leg mum." I just nodded.

We managed to swivel me with Josh holding onto my bad leg, and I managed to just touch the floor with my good foot.

"Okay, let's get me out of this thing."

Bracing myself I shuffled forward until I was on the edge and then sort of fell forward onto my good foot, Josh holding my damaged leg and lowering it down. I kept my knee bent to try and avoid touching the floor. Josh then stood, my bad leg between us, I put my arm around his shoulder, and we shuffled into the kitchen. Josh pulled a chair around, and I managed to sit on it and rest on the kitchen table.

"I'm just going to move the Massey mum, it's just too close to the back door, last thing we need is another accident. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I nodded, it made sense, at least I was now out of the rain, but still soaking wet. I heard the tractor move, and I guessed he had just put it back in the barn and then he was back.

"What do you need first mum?"

"I need to get out of these wet things, get dry, then have some drugs, oh I wish we had some ketamine."

"No you don't. I will go upstairs and get our dressing gowns and some towels."

I nodded. And then he seemed to be gone for ages, and it felt like I was swimming, eventually he came back. He had stripped his wet clothes off and put his robe on. I had tried to get my wet clothes off, or at least start, but I was too weak from the pain, I just gave up.

"Right mum, let's get you sorted."

"I tried to get the wet clothes off Josh, but I can't."

"No worries mum, I'll do it for you."

Oh. Well. This would be the first time he had seen me naked; I don't think he had even seen me in my bra. Frankly, I just didn't care. I needed these wet clothes off and to be dry. Josh undid my wax jacket, but I was sitting on it.

"Try and lift your bum," he said.

I pushed as hard as I could on the table and managed to get my bottom up. Josh pulled my coat from underneath me. With some finagling he managed to get it off.

"I think this is wetter on the inside than the out mum." He said, hanging it off the back of another chair. It needed to go inside out if it was going to dry, but I said nothing, I needed all my breath to live, not speak.

I tried to undo the buttons on my blouse, but my fingers wouldn't grip. Josh eased my fingers away and undid my buttons, pulled my blouse from inside my trousers and then eased it off my shoulders and away. Once the wet blouse was gone I actually felt a little warmer. Josh undid my bra and pulled it forward and off and then wrapped a towel around my shoulders.

"Okay mum. That was the easy bit." He undid the waist of my trousers and the zip, but obviously couldn't pull them down, I was sitting on them and my boots were in the way. He knelt at my feet and undid and took the boot and sock off from my good foot. The pain as he undid the lace on my damaged ankle was probably as intense as any I had today. I felt every movement as he widened my boot as far as he could and then twisted it down to ease it off. Yes, I screamed again as the boot came off.

"Bloody hell mum, I could see your ankle swelling as the boot came off."

I may have nodded, I don't know.

"Right mum, your trousers. Can you get your bum off the chair again?"

He stood between my legs and leant forward and gripped my waist. I lifted as far as I could, and he tugged my trousers complete with panties down to my knees. He then knelt between my legs as I settled back into the chair.

"Last bit mum, then I can get you dry, and we can see about getting you warm."

He was looking straight up at me and started to pull my trousers and panties down my legs. He managed to get them down most of the way, then he pulled them off my good leg, just leaving them on my bad.

"Right mum, last bit," he said looking up.

"Okay," I managed looking back down and noticing that his eyes were on my crotch not my face. Oh well, he's seen his mum's vagina.

He eased, as best as he could, my trousers and panties over my bad ankle. And then finally he took the sock off the sprained foot. I was naked, bar a towel over my shoulder, in my kitchen with my son, who, as far as I knew, had never seen a naked woman before. C'est la vie.

I was cold and shivering and still pretty wet. Josh threw a towel over my legs and then started rubbing my back, drying it, and as he went he moved more from the centre to my sides and then he stood in front drying my boobs and stomach.

"Let's get your dressing gown on as best we can now that you are dryer."

He took the towel away leaving me naked again, apart from the towel covering my legs and reached for my dressing gown. He put my left arm in first and then pulled it around my shoulders and we managed to get my right in. Couldn't really do it up yet, not until I stood, and that wasn't happening just yet.

Josh started rubbing the towel over my thighs, pressing it around my legs to get underneath, and then he rubbed my vulva dry. Okay. Lower legs he did kneeling between my legs and looking up at me. I realised, again, that he would see my naked breasts and crotch. Needs must I suppose.

I was beginning to feel a little better, warmer and dryer at least.

"Can we get the Vetrofen please?"

Josh went to the medicine cupboard and came back, opening the box he pulled the leaflet to work out the dose.

"How heavy are you in kilograms mum?"

"No idea, seven stone, seven and a half stone?"

"Okay mum. One stone is about 6 kilos if I remember correctly, so six time seven is forty two. Right, the dose is four Mg per kilogram, bloody hell mum that is 170 odd Mg. That is a lot mum, are you sure?"

"No baby, I am not, give me half dose, and if it hasn't started to work on an hour, I'll take the other half. We have no choice. If they come here to deal with me, it'll be by air ambulance, they'll take me to hospital and I won't be able to get back."

"I know mum." Josh went and got a glass and measured 80 Mg into it. He also got a glass of milk out of the fridge, 'in case the taste was bad' he said.

I took the glass of medicine and threw it down. It was pretty awful, but not as bad as it could be, I drank the milk just to help ease my throat.

"Right mum, what are we going to do with you? It won't help you sat in a kitchen chair."

"No, and you won't want to hear this, but I need a wee as well."

"Right. There is the loo in the yard, or one upstairs. Which shall we get you to?"

"Neither. Get the old saucepan from under the sink and a flannel, wet with warm water."

"Er, okay mum," he said looking puzzled. Well, if he stopped to think about it, he could have worked it out quite easily. He passed me the old saucepan, and I managed to get it between my legs. And I went. Oh my, I hadn't realised just how full my bladder must have been. Josh looked on transfixed, I guess he had never even wondered how a woman peed, never mind seen it. Well, now he knew. I finished and put the saucepan on the table.

"Flannel Josh please."

He handed it over and I wiped myself as best I could. "pop it in the sink please Josh, then wash your hands."

After all that was completed we had to work out where I would be best. There was really only one option, the lounge.

"The lounge please Josh, let's get me to the lounge. Can you support me on one side and we will see if we can get there."

Using my hand on the table I managed to get to my feet, I swivelled so that I was facing the right direction, Josh put his arm around me and also held my hand.

"Right. Let's do this." I said, more in hope than commitment. I knew this was going to hurt. A lot.

Josh was holding tight, and I took my weight off my leg and hopped it forward. Woosh that was not easy, only about twenty more to go. I looked down at my feet and in the corner of my eyes I saw Josh's penis, hard, sticking out of his robe. Oh well, I guess that was to be expected, but I was certainly not going to do anything to help that situation.

I hopped, with Josh as a crutch, through to the lounge and managed to get onto the settee. Josh lifted my legs up so that I was sitting sideways. Looking down I realised I needed to cover up again. Josh was still hanging out of his dressing gown.

"Josh," I said.

"Mum?" I pointed at his escapee.

"I don't know why it does that," he said and covered himself up and retied his dressing gown.

"Josh, did they not cover that at school?" I assumed they had, that is why I never gave him the chat.

"No, we were lambing and I missed those days at school."

"Oh. Okay. Well now is not the moment, but, I will explain it to you at some point."

"Okay mum."

I guessed with poor internet service here, we only had old fashioned dial up on a very old very slow windows laptop, he hadn't really looked at much pornography. In some ways that was a shame. But we had sheep, they reproduced, I just assumed he understood the process.

"Can you go and flush the saucepan, give it a rinse, use some of the stable's disinfectant and also wash the flannel. Don't forget to wash your hands, then, bring them back to me in case I need them again. If I need to do the other, I am somehow going to have to get to the loo." I leant back and closed my eyes.

I woke up at some point. I was under my quilt, the saucepan and flannel were on the floor by me, I didn't need them. Josh was dressed and dozing in the armchair. I went to move my head to say something and I came over all dizzy, oh. Drugs, I was never good with them.

"Jersh" is what came out of my mouth, I sounded drunk.

"Oh, welcome back mum."

"yesfl, wort?"

Great. Not only could I not walk, now I couldn't speak. But I had no pain, that was good.

"Ha ha mum, you sound like you've been on our home made crab apple cider."

In the hedges around the farm we had a number of crab apple trees. Every year we gathered a load of fruit, fermented and then bottled it. We called it cider, but it probably wasn't. It was just pleasant enough to let you get tipsy, not pleasant enough that you would go beyond that to rolling drunk. A harvest usually lasted us most of the year. I tried making wine out of it once, but it was cloudy and I couldn't clear it. So I never tried again.