The Trip 

By Ed Carlson

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This story is purely fictitious. The names used herein are for character

identification and should not be construed as real people, alive or dead.

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Chapter 1.

“Honey, are we going to go or not?” I quizzed. “If we are, I need to get packed.”

“OK. I’m not wild about it, but let’s go,” Bob replied.

“Why don’t you want to go? We had a good time last year,” I said.

“Sam, you had a great time. I was pretty embarrassed when you took your top off during the wet T-shirt contest,” he said. “I know you have nice boobs, but I really didn’t appreciate you sharing them with the rest of the bikers.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I said apologetically. “If you remember right, you’re the one who got me really drunk, and you know how I get really horny. All of my inhibitions fly right out the window after a couple of drinks.”

“I won’t do that again. A few beers maybe, but we aren’t getting totally wasted like that again,” he said.

“That’s fine with me. That bike is loud enough without nursing a hangover,” I replied. “At least there’s plenty of fresh air. Let me throw some things in my bag.”

“Go ahead, mine’s already loaded,” he said.

I got up and went into the bedroom. The bag I use when we travel on the bike was on the bed. I managed to get a week’s worth of clothes in it and got it zipped. Carrying my little bag, I walked back into the living room. Linda was there talking to Bob.

“So you guys are going to Sturgis?” she quizzed.

“I talked him into it,” I replied. “We almost didn’t go.”

“Oh ya, that’s right, you got into a little trouble last year,” Linda remembered.

“It was as much my fault as hers,” Bob interjected. “I’m the one that got her drunk.”

“But I’m the one who made a fool of myself,” I admitted. “You know me after a few drinks.”

“I sure do. You’ll screw anything with pants on,” Linda quipped.

“Are you ready?” Bob asked.

“Just let me get my leather jacket,” I replied, going to the closet. “I know it’s hot now, but it might get really cool along the way.”

“It’ll keep you from getting scratched up if I have to lay the bike down,” he said, starting for the door.

“Only if I’m wearing it. For now, it’s going in my pack,” I said, following him.

“See you guys later,” Linda called after us. “Have a good time and be careful.”

“We will,” I called back as I stowed my bag and jacket.

Bob started the big bike just as I finished stowing my things. It was warm, so I wore only my tank top, the one that looked pretty good with my cutoff blue jeans. I felt like being liberated, so I wasn’t wearing a bra. They’re firm enough to stay up by themselves anyway.

We cruised down Highway 87 out of Great Falls toward Lewistown. I like living in Great Falls, but sometimes it’s good to get away. Like a lot of the Montana cities, they’re cities and offer large population amenities, but retain the small town flavor.

Out on the open road, Bob liked to get on it quite a bit. I looked over his shoulder once just before we got to Hobson and saw that we were doing about 110. I just held onto his waist just a little tighter. Bob would throttle back to just over the speed limit for the small towns.

We were almost into Roundup, still up on the flat before the few dips and the canyon that drops down into the northwest end of town. Bob was really flying low when I saw a big green eighteen wheeler truck approaching the highway and stopping. It had no load but was the flatbed kind that they use for hauling the big round hay bales. We dropped down into one of the little dips and out of view of the truck. When we popped up over the hill, the truck was in the middle of the road. I thought that Bob had seen him, but Bob didn’t slow down, and the big truck obviously didn’t see us either. The truck was completely across the road, and we had no place to go. I was holding on tightly to Bob and screaming when we collided into the side of the truck. Poor Bob’s body took the full impact of the blow and shielded me. My arms became tangled between the rail that holds the bales in place and the truck bed, and after a brief pause, I did a flip up in the air. The momentum sent me sliding across the smooth steel truck bed. I slid across and tumbled over the rail on the other side and onto the ground. I looked under the truck only to see the bike burst into flames. I tried to get up, but suddenly the whole world started spinning around, and then everything was black.

I could hear the sound of a siren when I tried to open my eyes. Everything was fuzzy, so I closed them. I opened my eyes again. The sound of the siren was still there, and I had the sensation of movement. I looked around. I wasn’t sure where I was. Everything was white, and I was in a little room with a lot of doors and cabinets.

“You’re going to be all right,” a voice from somewhere over my head said over the sound of the siren.

“Where am I?” I asked.

“You’re in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. We’ll be there in just a minute. You’re going to be all right,” the voice said.

I looked around and saw the kind face of the voice that had been reassuring me. I asked, “What happened?”

“You’ve been in a very bad accident. You’re fine. Everything’s going to be OK. We’re just about to the hospital,” the man said with a reassuring voice.

I tried to focus on him. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a little mustache. His slight smile was very reassuring to me. His white T-shirt was covered with something red. I didn’t know what it was. I tried to say something again, but nothing came out.

“Be still. We’re almost there,” he said as I tried to sit up.

The siren quit, and we went around a sharp corner fast and then a second. The movement quit, and almost in an instant, the rear door opened. I felt the cart that I was strapped to start to move. People with very stern looking faces were moving me quickly into the building. The attendant was right beside me all the way. He kept looking down and smiling at me—a reassuring smile that I definitely needed.

I was taken into a small room with a big light hanging in the center. It was very bright when they turned it on. They put a sheet over me, and the nurses removed my clothes. I was lying flat on my back looking straight up when the doctor walked in. He introduced himself as Dr. Johnson. He took a quick look under the sheet at each limb, then said: “Well young lady, it looks like you’re pretty lucky to be here. Let me do a few quick tests to double check the extent of your injuries.”

He lifted up the corner of the sheet that covered my left leg. He poked the bottom of my foot with something and said, “Does that hurt?”

“Ouch,” I said. “I can definitely feel that.”

He felt my leg almost up to my crotch, then pulled the sheet back down and walked around to my right leg. He moved the sheet and did the same thing. I could feel the right leg just as much. Next, he removed the sheet covering my upper body and carefully felt around my rib cage and neck for broken bones. He covered me up again, then pulled the sheet on my right arm back. I saw a large bloody bandage. He touched the bandage and moved my arm. Pains shot all through my body. I screamed and all went black.

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Chapter 2.

I awoke in a dimly lit room. Dr. Johnson was standing over me as I tried to focus on him. He smiled down at me and said, “Good, you’re back with us.”

“What happened? Where am I?”

“You were in a very bad accident on a motorcycle,” he said softly. “You have no broken bones. You have only a few scrapes and bruises. We just finished working on your arms in the operating room.”

“What’s wrong with my arms?” I asked.

“Samantha, both of your arms were torn off by the impact of the accident. We needed to repair them to stop the bleeding, prevent infection, and to be sure that you can wear prosthetic arms,” he replied.

“What do you mean prosthetic arms!” I exclaimed. “Couldn’t you sew my arms back on? I saw on TV that you guys can do that now.”

“We would have tried if we had your arms to do it with,” he said very apologetically. “I’m afraid they were destroyed when the motorcycle caught on fire. The firemen tell me that they were both destroyed completely.”

“Oh my God!” I gasped. “Bob. What happened to Bob?”

“I’m afraid that he didn’t make it,” Dr. Johnson said, looking away. He made eye contact with me again and continued: “He probably died instantly on impact. Like I said before, young lady, you are lucky to be alive.”

“What do you mean lucky?” I said. “You just told me that I don’t have any arms for Pete’s sake. How in the hell am I going to survive without arms?”

“We’ll fix you up with prosthetic arms and send you to rehab. They’ll teach you to use them effectively.”

“Oh no, this can’t be happening to me,” I uttered as I looked down at the lumps under the sheet where the bulky bandages were.

Dr. Johnson nodded and gave instructions to one of the nurses standing there. They both left together, and I was alone. The EMT who had been in the ambulance with me came into the room. I managed a weak smile, and he smiled back. Suddenly I could feel the tears in my eyes as I started to cry. I felt a soft touch of cloth near my eyes.

“It’s going to be all right,” the EMT said in a soft but reassuring voice. “Dr. Johnson is good. The best around here. He did the best that he could.”

 “I’m just worried how I’ll get along without Bob and without any arms,” I sniffed.

“I’m sorry about your boyfriend,” he said. “I bet he was a very kind person to have a nice girlfriend like you.”

“He was a very gentle person,” I replied. “At least he was until he got on the motorcycle, or crotch rocket as he called it. Then his personality seemed to change. He became aggressive and drove it way too fast.”

“They’ll help you with the arms,” he said. “I’ve seen them in action. Trust me, you’ll be fine.”

“I guess I’ll have to trust you. I don’t have anyone else here now,” I lamented. “I’m starting to get awfully sleepy again. Who are you?”

“My name is Tom. I’m an EMT with the Roundup Fire Department. The drugs they gave you to keep you relaxed are starting to take effect,” he said softly, still looking into my eyes. “Try to relax now. It will make the drug’s job easier.”

I drifted off to sleep again.

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Chapter 3.

Several days later I was sitting up and being fed lunch. Without the use of my arms, even the simplest things required assistance.

My roommate, Linda, had taken time off work in Great Falls to be with me. She was a good friend, but she was having a difficult time dealing with the reality that I no longer had any hands and only very short arm stumps. She wasn’t the only one having troubles coming to grips with my situation. I spent a good deal of the day missing Bob and thinking about my now nonexistent arms. Most of the real heavy bandages had been removed, and I could move my arm stumps around, but the sight of them would set off another wave of crying.

Tom, the EMT, appeared at the door and said, “Are you up for a little company?”

“Sure, if you don’t mind watching Linda feed me,” I replied.

He walked into the room followed by a knockout gorgeous blond. She walked kind of behind him and held her arms behind her back, accentuating her well above average breasts.

“Sam and Linda, this is my friend Kelly,” Tom said.

“Nice to meet you,” Linda said first.

“Good to meet you as well,” I replied. “I’d offer to shake hands, but as you can see, I have a little problem here.”

“Tom tells me that you had a more than a casual meeting with a hay truck,” Kelly said with her arms still behind her back.

“I think it was a lot more than casual,” I replied. “It was down right up close and personal.”

“I’m sorry that your boyfriend was killed,” she said. “I bet his loss is painful.”

“At least they can give me shots and pills for the pain in these,” I said, holding up my stumps. “They don’t have medicine for a love loss.”

“I don’t suppose they do,” she replied.

“Linda, can I talk to you outside for a minute?” Tom said.

“But I’m not done feeding her,” Linda objected.

“Go ahead, I’ll finish up,” Kelly offered.

Tom and Linda left the room, and Kelly and I were left alone. She moved around to where Linda had been standing and picked up the fork that Linda had been using. That’s when I almost lost it!!! Kelly had picked up the fork with a prosthetic hook on her right arm.

“Oh my gosh,” I stuttered. “You have a prosthetic arm.”

“Wrong,” she replied, exposing the other arm. “I have a matched set.”

“I . . . I . . . I don’t know what to say,” I stammered.

“How about why don’t you quit waving those silly hooks around and feed me?” she quipped.

“OK” was all I could say as Kelly began to feed me. I was absolutely amazed at the dexterity with which she was able to use her hooks to feed me.

“You’ll be able to do this by yourself before too long,” she said as she finished feeding me the last of the food on her plate.

“I’m amazed how well you use your . . . your . . . h . . . your . . . ,” I stammered.

“Hooks,” she interjected. “Call ’em like you see ’em. Get used to it. They’re nothing more than a pair of hooks.”

“OK, hooks,” I said with regained composure. “You certainly operate your hooks well.”

“You will be able to use yours as well with a little practice,” Kelly said. “Your amputated arms are shorter than mine, but that shouldn’t matter, we’re both above the elbow amputees.”

“How long are your stumps?” I asked.

“They’re about six inches above where my elbows used to be,” she said, pointing at a point midway on the upper arm with one of her hooks. “Have they started to make up your prosthetics yet?”

“Not yet,” I replied. “They’ve been in doing measurements, and they said that they would do casts this week sometime.”

“I’ll talk to Fred and see if I can prod him a bit,” she said. “He and I go back a long way. I was in junior high when my arms got caught in a grain auger. That was ten years ago. He’s always made my prosthetics.”

“How do you know Tom?” I asked.

“Tom and I have been going together off and on now for three years. I met him when he first moved here,” Kelly said. “I thought I wanted to be an EMT, and he helped me with the class-work for as far as I got.”

“Then you’re an EMT too?” I quizzed.

“No. I was doing really well academically, but there were a few things that I had to do that I couldn’t do with my hooks. Taking a pulse is one of them, pretty critical for a patient work-up,” she said. “I also figured out that I didn’t do well around people vomiting. I put in some time working in the ER as a part of the class and found myself vomiting right along with the patients.”

“I don’t blame you. I don’t think I could deal with the blood.”

“I didn’t mind the blood as long as it wasn’t mine,” Kelly said. “I saw enough of that on the conveyer.”

“I take it your accident must have been pretty gross,” I observed.

“It was,” she remembered. “I was only twelve and trying to help on the ranch. We were loading some wheat with a screw auger conveyer. A stick was sliding down the pile toward the intake opening, and I was going to get it out. They warned me about wearing unbuttoned cuffs on my shirt. The shirt got caught first. Before I knew it, my right hand was being pulled in too. I used my left hand to try and free my right. Then my left sleeve was caught, and my left hand followed. The screw on the conveyer pulled me in until my shoulders wedged into the chute. It continued to grind until I was free, without any arms of course. There was blood everywhere. Luckily, the ranch foreman came around the corner and heard me screaming. He was able to slow the bleeding and call for help. I remember thinking about getting sick, but I was too scared.”

“I didn’t realize my arms were gone until I was in the ER,” I said. “Tom did a good job of keeping me calm. He has a very reassuring smile.”

“I know. He’s great to be around when I get feeling sorry for myself. He snaps me out of it in no time at all.”

“You know, no one has talked to me about rehab and learning how to use my hooks that I’ll eventually be getting,” I said. “Would you be interested in teaching me how to use them?”

“I’d like that,” Kelly said. “I’m going to be laid off soon at the plant and need to find something to do to keep out of trouble. I think it would be fun teaching you.”

“Oh Kelly, that would be great if you would,” I said excitedly as Tom and Linda came back into the room. “I’ll see that you get the money that the insurance company has set aside for rehab.”

“So what have you two been talking about?” Tom asked.

“Kelly has agreed to teach me how to use the hooks they’re going to be making for me,” I told them.

“That’s great,” Linda said. “Is she going to come up to Great Falls with us?”

“We haven’t gotten that far,” I replied. “Kelly, what do you think?”

“I don’t think that would work out that well. I still have to take care of my horses,” Kelly said. “Why don’t you plan on staying out at my place? It’s plenty big enough for the two of us.”

“You’d like it out there,” Tom interjected. “She lives on the prettiest spot on the river.”

“I’d feel like I’m imposing,” I said.

“Nonsense,” Kelly countered. “It’s just me, the cat, and the horses out there. That is, unless I can seduce Tom into staying overnight.”

Tom’s face turned a bright red as he looked down at the floor and said, “That doesn’t happen very often.”

“I know,” Kelly sighed.

“Not to change the subject, but how long before you get your prosthetic arms?” Linda asked.

“They’re called hooks,” I said. “Kelly is going to talk to the guy who’s going to be making them and see if she can build a fire under him. Fred has built all of her pros . . . hooks.” 

“It looks like you’ve got everything under control here,” Linda said. “I should be heading back to Great Falls before I have to drive all night.”

“Linda, thanks for coming,” I said. “I need a hug before you go.”

Linda gave me a hug, and I hugged her back the best I could with my very short arm stumps. Her eyes teared up as she stepped away.

“It’s been good to see you again,” Tom said, giving her a little hug.

“It’s been nice to meet you,” Kelly said, offering her right hook to Linda.

Linda looked at it and tentatively took it and shook it politely, then said: “It’s been nice meeting you too. Take good care of Sam for me. She’s a great roommate.”

“I will,” Kelly said as she withdrew her prosthetic hook. “I want you to come down and visit. It’s easy to find, and plan on staying overnight. I have plenty of room, and we can stay up late and tell ghost stories.”

“I’ll see if I can,” Linda said as she started to leave. “Bye now.”

When she was gone, Kelly said, “She was in a hurry to leave.”

“She’s been my best friend since junior high and is having a hard time dealing with me losing my arms,” I said. “I think she’s probably spent as much time crying as I have. She was doing pretty well today.”

“Sorry that I put her in a tailspin,” Kelly said apologetically.

“Realizing that you are both double arm amputees is probably a lot for her to deal with right now,” Tom said. “She’ll be fine once things get back to normal.”

“Whatever normal is now,” I said. “I’m going to have to find a new job and new hobbies.”

“You’ll probably be able to do them once you get your hooks,” Kelly encouraged.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “My job was assembling microchip parts under a microscope, and my hobby was playing the violin.”

“We’re probably going to find you a different job and hobby then,” she said. “Have you ever considered working on a ranch?”

“No. I’ve always lived in the city,” I admitted. “I don’t know the front end of the horse from the back.”

“You’ll learn,” she said. “I’ve got to be going too. I’ll drop in tomorrow after I see Fred.”

“I guess that means that I’m going too, I’m driving,” Tom said.

“Hey, thank you guys for coming by,” I said. “I’m really looking forward to the lessons.”

“I’ll start here at the hospital,” she said. “They won’t let you out unless you can feed yourself. That will be goal number one.”

“I can hardly wait,” I said excitedly.

“See you tomorrow,” Kelly said as she inched toward the door.

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing well,” Tom said as he inched toward the door too. “Keep it up.”

“I will now that I have something to look forward to,” I said. “Thanks for coming.”

They left, and even though I was tired, I had a hard time getting to sleep. The excitement of the new adventure was keeping me awake.

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Chapter 4.

“So are you going to sleep all day?” Kelly said. “It’s six o’clock.”

She stood in the doorway in only the long T-shirt that she used as a night gown. Her arm stumps protruded just below the sleeves, and her large breasts almost made the T-shirt look like a small tent. I have shorter arm stumps. My stumps won’t even completely fill up my T-shirt sleeves.

“Good morning,” I replied. “I’ve been awake for an hour. I had a hard time sleeping.”

Kelly walked across the room toward me. I could see most of her long tan legs, which protruded below the long T-shirt with the teddy bears. She sat on the end of my bed and crossed her legs. I noticed that, like me, she was not wearing panties. I tried to use my short arm stumps to push myself up against the headboard but ended up wiggling my butt from side to side to get there.

“Is there anything troubling you?” she asked.

“I guess I’m kinda worried how I’m going to make a living now,” I replied. “The job I had paid OK, but I really haven’t saved that much. I’m sure that there isn’t that much demand for an ex-biker girl with no arms.”

“What do you think you would like to do?” Kelly quizzed.

“I don’t know. I’ve always been fascinated by computers. Maybe I could learn to run them a little better than I do with my laptop that Linda brought down.”

“I’ve avoided them myself,” she replied. “I’ve read about some computer classes through the college over in Billings. Maybe you could enroll over there.”

“My only problem with that is that takes money, and I’m quickly running out,” I countered. “The insurance that Bob had paid for the hospital and my hooks but not much more. The guy who we hit was insured, but because it wasn’t his fault, his insurance won’t pay. So here I sit, almost broke and no arms. You, at least, have the ranch.”

“I feel fortunate that my family pioneered this area and established the ranch. I’ve also been fortunate to have found good folks who have been able to make a decent living out of leasing most of it.”

“Just how big is this place?” I asked.

“Several thousand acres. Are you up to a long horseback ride? I can show you.”

“Sure, we’ve only ridden around close since I’ve been here on the ranch rehabing,” I said. “Speaking of rehabing, how am I doing? Do you think I’m making progress?”

“My goodness, yes you are,” she replied. “Remember three months ago when you first came out here, you couldn’t eat a meal without dropping your fork. Now you can pick up just about anything that’s in your weight range. Your handwriting has improved too. I think you’re making great progress.”

“Yes, but I have such a hard time trying to tie a knot,” I argued.

“Let me tell you when I first came home, I couldn’t do anything,” she said. “They taught me how to pick up a fork, and that was about it. My mom is the one who really pushed me and made me learn how to do things. She’s the one who kept telling me ‘you can do it, now you have to figure out another way.’ Sometimes I hated her for it, and I screamed and cried out of frustration, but it was best for me in the long run. It’s made a stronger person out of me.”

“I would really like to be like you,” I said. “Some days I feel so inadequate.”

“You’re making excellent progress. Don’t worry about it.”

“I worry about paying you,” I said. “I thought the insurance would pay a lot more than it did.”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Kelly said with a smile. “You could have stayed here even if they didn’t pay a dime. You don’t eat that much, and I enjoy having you around. I guess that I like being able to pass along some of my skills to you.”

“I feel like I come between you and Tom sometimes,” I said. “Like I’m in the way of you doing something that maybe just the two of you want to do.”

“Tom and I have been friends for a long time. Nothing that serious,” she confided. “We get it on sometimes just to relieve some sexual desires that we both have. I like him a lot, but I don’t know for sure that I love him.”

“I guess that Bob and I were the same way,” I remembered. “I liked him well enough as a friend, and like you two, he met some physical needs, but I never could picture myself with him for the rest of my life. I guess that’s why I wanted to go to Sturgis. I thought that maybe I’d meet someone there.”

“I don’t want to be critical, but aren’t there better places to go to meet guys?” she asked.

“I suppose. Now that I look back on it, it was just a big party, and I did drink too much.”

“The right guy will come along for both of us,” she said.

“By the look on his face, I think yours has,” I said.

“It’s getting late if we’re going to see the whole place,” she said, changing the subject and standing up. “I suggest that you wear the sports bra. It’ll give you good support for the long ride.”

“OK,” I said as I swung my legs around toward the floor.

“Holler if you need help,” she said as she started out the door.

“Don’t worry, I probably will,” I said, standing up when she was gone.

My T-shirt was shorter than hers and only had a decal of Harley wings. I noticed myself in the mirror. ‘You still don’t look that bad,’ I thought to myself.

The bathroom was clear, so I used it quickly to relieve overnight pressure. I went back to my bedroom and used my toes to straighten out the blankets on the bed. I found my sports bra and used my teeth to carry it over to the bed. Next, I started through the contortions of taking off my T-shirt that I used for a nightgown. Before too long, I was completely naked.

I used my remaining three inch arm stumps to pick up my sports bra and managed to get it started over my head and both arms in position, but I couldn’t get it down farther than the top of my breasts. I called Kelly for some help.

“What do you need?” she asked when she appeared at the door completely nude except for her sports bra in the same position as mine.

“I’ll help you, if you’ll help me,” I said.

“You’re on,” she said.

She walked over to me and used her teeth to bite the center of the front of my bra and pulled it down while I bent backwards. Most of it was in place except the back. I turned around, and she used one of her short upper arm stumps to smooth it.

I turned and faced her; I used my teeth to pull her sports bra down over her large but firm breasts. The bra was not completely down, and I used the stump of my arm to get under the bra and move it down into place on one side. When I finished the right side, I did the same to the left side. When I had straightened out the back strap, she asked, “Do you need help with your stump socks?”

“I can get them,” I replied. “I’ve had a good teacher.”

“OK, thanks for the help,” she said as she walked out the door.

My clean stump socks were hung over the chair where I had carefully placed them the night before when I was still wearing my hooks. I managed to get them on and pulled up using my teeth and some contortions. My shortened T-shirt was also lying over the back of the chair. I picked it up with my teeth and put it on the bed, got down on my knees, and I straightened it. I managed to get my arm stumps in the bottom and worked them up through the appropriate arm holes and my head through it too. When I stood up, it almost fell into place over my breasts.

My hooks were lying on the chair too, and using my foot, I picked up the bilateral harness that connects the two arms. I laid the assembly on the bed and spread it out, being sure that the straps were not twisted. I lay down on the bed on my back and got one arm through the shoulder loop and into the socket. Next, I did the same with the other arm, being sure to get my arm through the shoulder loop. I carefully sat up and was able to get both arms properly positioned. I put them through their paces, including moving and repositioning the locking elbows that I need because I don’t have any elbows of my own. To that end, even though I have higher above the elbow amputations, my prosthetics function much the same as Kelly’s. Her amputations are just above where her elbows were, and her prosthetics also have locking elbows that work the same way but have a slightly different design.

I went to the drawer and retrieved my panties. With the aid of my hooks, I was able to get them on easily, as well as my socks and blue jeans. By the time I had finished, I could smell breakfast cooking and went into the kitchen.

“Can I help with anything?” I asked.

“You can set the table,” Kelly replied as she turned the pancakes.

I set to work putting the dishes and silverware on the place-mats. I set the coffee cups down on the little table in the nook and got the pot of coffee. Pouring coffee is one of my more recently acquired skills, and I was proud of myself when I put the pot back on the stove. I sat down, and Kelly brought over the food. She sat down, and we began to eat. I often wondered what anyone who might wander in would think of two women sitting at the table with both of them eating using prosthetic arms with hooks.

When breakfast was finished, I went back to my room and put on a long-sleeve shirt. The trick to the shirt is getting the actuating lever of the hook out the end of the sleeve without it getting snagged. Once I had it snapped and tucked in, I went out to meet Kelly at the barn.

John, the hired man, had the horses saddled and was putting a pack saddle on another horse when I arrived.

“Why the pack horse?” I quizzed.

“He’s pretty young,” Kelly replied. “He needs some lead time. I’ll just lead him along with us and put a few rocks in the pack boxes so he can get used to the weight. Besides, it’ll be a good spot to put our lunch.”

“What can I help with?” I asked.

“You can get out the lunches. I left them on the kitchen counter,” she said. “Also, fill up a canteen for each of us.”

I set about my assigned task. Getting the lunches was the easy part. I still hadn’t mastered the art of twisting caps and had a heck of a time getting the top of the canteen off. I finally managed to get the first one off and filled. I was struggling with getting the lid back on, and I was almost in tears again when Kelly came into the kitchen.

“How are you doing?” she asked.

“Not worth a darn,” I replied. “I haven’t mastered the simple art of twisting yet.”

“Let me show you,” she said. “The trick is to elevate your arm and kind of twist your body a little.”

“You make it look so easy,” I said.

“I’ve had a little more practice,” she said casually as she finished the second canteen.

We walked out of the house together and to the hitching post in front of the barn where the three horses were tied. John gave me a boost up and handed me the reins. Kelly was up in the saddle almost as fast as I was. John untied the lead rope for the pack horse and gave it to Kelly. She led the way out of the barn area and down the road toward the wooded hills. When we were out in the open, I moved up beside her.

“Are we there yet?” I joked.

“Not hardly,” she replied. “It’ll be dark by the time we get back.”

The rest of the morning went by quickly, and Kelly showed me a lot of beautiful country that was part of her ranch. Even though she did not work the ranch herself, she still owned it and had leased portions out to adjacent land owners.

We stopped for lunch by a small stream. We gave the horses their heads, and they grazed quietly while we ate. I had just finished my sandwich when I heard a shot nearby. Kelly looked at me, and I was about to say something when we heard two more shots in rapid succession.

“Is it hunting season?” I asked.

“No. It might be poachers,” she replied. “We should check it out.”

“Are you sure? They might take a shot at us,” I said nervously.

“You pack up, and I’ll go up on the ridge behind the rocks and see what’s going on,” she said.

I gathered our leftover lunch sacks and took them over to the horses. Luckily, the pack horse didn’t shy and I was able to put the lunch sacks in the pack boxes. The other horses were a bit skittish, and it took me a minute to catch them. I had mastered simple knots, so it was relatively easy for me to tie the horses together in a string with Kelly’s horse following the pack horse. After a couple of tries, I was able to get back on my horse, and with the other two in tow, I began to follow the path that Kelly had taken. I had almost caught up to her as I came to the top of a small ridge.

“Stay here,” she said as I joined her on the ridge. “There’s a white van down there in the gravel pit, and the doors are open. I see one guy’s feet sticking out on the other side. I’ll slip down there and see if I can help him. I have moccasins in my saddle bags.”

“Why moccasins?” I asked.

“I want to be as quiet as I can, and in case there’s been foul play, I don’t want to leave tracks,” she said.

I dismounted and tied my horse to a tree while Kelly retrieved her moccasins. I helped her pull her boots off, and she put her moccasins on, then she was gone, silently. I waited nervously for her return.

It seemed like an eternity before she returned. She was winded and carrying a white tubular shaped sack.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“That’s a bank courier van and two dead guards,” she said. “The best I can figure out is that they were carrying money, and the guards were going to steal it. They probably started arguing and shot it out with one another. They’re both lying down there with guns in their hands.”

“I thought the bank used armored cars,” I said.

“Not all the time out here. The bank uses unmarked vans to transport the bank records. They sometimes carry cash. This time, they were carrying a large amount of cash. Look at this.”

We knelt down and peeked into the slightly opened bag. “Oh my gosh,” I gasped.

“Sam, our money worries are over,” Kelly said.

“Maybe they’re just starting. What happens if they start looking for us?” I asked.

“Who would suspect a couple of helpless women without arms?” she asked. “I think we should take the rest of it too.”

“I don’t know,” I stammered.

“You were the one who was saying that you didn’t have any money,” she reminded. “Now’s your chance. All we need to do is to hide the money for a while and not spend any of it. Then we’ll sneak it out of the country and live in a manner to which we’d like to be accustomed.”

“OK, let’s do it,” I said after a moment or two of thought. “What’s the plan?”

“You stay up here with the horses and unload the rocks out of the pack boxes. Spread them around so they look natural,” Kelly said. “I’ll go back down and get the other bags. I’ll take a different route each time and try not to leave a trail.”

I nodded in agreement, and Kelly went back down the hill while I unloaded the rocks from the pack boxes. I followed her instructions and spread the rocks around. Soon Kelly was back with two more bags.

“There are two more left,” she said.

“Don’t we have enough?” I asked.

“We probably do. But those guys don’t need it now. We might as well take it all,” she replied. “If we’re going to jail for robbery, we might as well make it worth our while. Load the bags and I’ll be right back.”

She was gone again, and I was left with the three sacks of money. I loaded each bag carefully onto the pack horse. Working overhead was difficult, but I did it. Soon Kelly came walking down the ridge from the other direction carrying the other two bags of cash. We put them in the pack boxes and fastened the canvas covers.

We mounted up, and with Kelly in the lead, we started back to where we had eaten lunch. We crossed the stream and headed the opposite direction away from the gravel pit making a huge circle to avoid it. We were soon out of the trees and into the open range. I rode up next to her.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“I’ve been thinking,” Kelly said. “There’s an old abandoned house over by the south corner of the property. It has some loose floor boards. We could stash the money there until it cools off.”

“I feel really bad about stealing the bank’s money,” I said.

“It’s insured,” she replied. “Covering themselves from loss and theft is part of the cost of doing business for them.”

“I suppose,” I said. “I guess stealing just isn’t my thing.”

“Sam, I don’t feel great about it either,” she said. “Look at it this way. We’re two severely disabled women. We really don’t have a chance for major advancement. We had the opportunity, and we took the first step on a path to a better life.”

“It sounds like you have it pretty well rationalized out,” I commented.

“Pretty well,” she said before we rode along in silence.

We had ridden about an hour when I caught sight of a long abandoned old farmhouse. It was the typical two story farmhouse that dotted the prairie. We went around the backside away from the road. We dismounted and went inside.

The old house was a shambles and had junk strewn everywhere. We looked around and went into what was the downstairs bedroom. An old bed frame with a dirty mattress was in one corner of the room.

“Help me move the bed,” she said.

I did as I was told, and a trap door was revealed. A small ring hook was on one side of the trap door lid. Kelly worked her hook into the ring and lifted the small door. She peered into the small dark space for a moment.

“This will do,” she said. “The snakes are gone.”

“Snakes?” I asked uneasily. “I hate snakes.”

“Rattlesnakes used to be down there,” she said.

“But what if they’re still there and bite us?” I said.

“One of the advantages of hooks,” she said calmly. “Snakes will only smell the metal and won’t strike, and if they did, they couldn’t hurt the metal or fiberglass. It’s safe enough. Besides, most people from around here know about the snakes and stay clear of the place.”

“Let’s unload and get the hell out of here,” I said. “Like I told you before, I hate snakes.”

She got up off her knees, and we went out and brought the five bags of cash into the house. When it was stashed, we put the trap door back in place, then spread some of the debris that was lying around over it. The last thing we did was carefully put the bed back exactly where we had found it.

We left the house and mounted up again. When we were underway again, I asked, “How did you know about that spot?”

“The old house is the second one my grandparents built. The first one was sod. The trap door was under grandpa and grandma’s bed. It was the best thing they had for a safe. It worked for them.”

“It’s working for us too,” I responded.

We went down the road a little further and found some rocks for the pack boxes. Once they were loaded, we headed back to Kelly’s ranch house.

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Chapter 5.

We rode steadily for the rest of the day and arrived back at the ranch house at sundown. My heart was in my throat when I saw the sheriff’s car parked in the driveway. John was talking to the deputy.

“Hi Kelly,” the deputy said.

“Hi there Dave. What’s going on?” she asked.

“There’s been a robbery and two guards shot,” he said as we dismounted.

“You know Sam, don’t you?” she asked.

“Yes. I interviewed her about the accident,” he replied. “How are you getting along?”

“Right now, I’m more than a little bit sore. We’ve been riding most of the day,” I said.

“Where all have you been?” he asked.

“I’ve been showing Sam the ranch. We made it clear over to grandpa’s house. I’ve been working with the pack horse getting him used to the lead,” she replied. “John, could you unsaddle the horses please. Also, you’ll need to dump the rocks out of the pack boxes.”

John led the horses away and Kelly said, “Now what’s this about a robbery and two guards shot?”

“The bank reported the courier overdue from Billings. We checked with the bank in Roundup, and they hadn’t been there. They were carrying the payroll for the plant. You know the plant still pays in cash.”

“Ya, I’ve heard that,” she agreed. “You’d think that they would pay by check or direct deposit.”

“You’d think so. It sure would be a lot safer,” he continued. “We started a ground search and alerted the commuter airline. The pilot radioed that he had spotted a van in your old gravel pit down by the creek. We checked it out and found the van. Both of the guards were dead, and all the cash that they were carrying was gone.”

“Oh my gosh, what do you think happened?” she asked.

“We’re not sure. It looks like they had an accomplice, and he got away with the money before they got to your gravel pit because there were no other tire tracks,” he replied. “I was just wondering if you two heard anything?”

“Not me, except the sounds of horses walking,” I replied.

“Me either,” Kelly said. “Do you think the guards might have gotten greedy and decided to keep the money for themselves?”

“That’s a possibility. We’re checking into it now,” he said. “That doesn’t explain why they were both shot and the money missing.”

“I saw a movie once where both robbers shot each other. In the end they both died, and someone else got away with the money,” I said. “Maybe that’s what happened.”

“Maybe,” he said, scratching his head. “Anyway, that’s the job for the FBI now. I’m just out trying to find out if anyone saw or heard anything.”

“Well, I think we’ve told you all we know,” she said. “We were probably two miles from there on the old west road when we crossed the creek.”

“You two are the only ones that were even in the area,” he said. “The FBI will probably want to talk to you.”

“That’s fine,” Kelly said. “After baths, we’ll be here all evening. Tomorrow, we need to go into town for groceries.”

“I’ll tell them,” the Deputy said. “Maybe they can come by this evening while it’s still fresh in your minds.”

“Any time after seven will be fine,” she said and I nodded.

The deputy went over to his car and called his dispatcher on the radio. He told her that he was finished here and to let the FBI know that we would be available after seven. The dispatcher acknowledged and said that she would let them know. After he said goodbye and left, we went in the house.

“What are we going to do now?” I asked.

“We’ll have baths like I told him. After that, we’ll have supper and talk to the FBI agent when he gets here,” she replied calmly. “We’ll tell him the same story as we told Dave.”

“What if I screw up, and they suspect something?” I protested nervously.

“You won’t screw up. Let me do most of the talking,” she said firmly. “Besides, who’s going to suspect two armless women?”

“You’re right, we can do it,” I lamented. “Who has first bath?”

“You go first. Then you can do me,” Kelly said.

I walked into my room and began to undress. I was doing fine and had no problem until I started to take my arms off. I became tangled in the harness and had to call Kelly for help.

“Sam, how did you do this?” she questioned as she deftly used her hooks to untangle my control straps.

“I don’t know what I did,” I replied.

When I was freed, she helped me remove my T-shirt and stump socks, grasping each item with alternating hooks and depositing them on my bed.

We went into the bathroom, and she drew my bath in the comfortable old claw foot cast iron tub. When the tub had about reached its full mark, she added some bubble bath while I continued to stand nude watching her. I continued to marvel at her dexterity with her hooks. I wondered if I would ever be that talented.

She turned off the water, and I stepped into the tub and lowered myself into the water. The warm water was a perfect temperature as I slid down so that only my head was exposed. I was in heaven.

“Let me know when you’re ready to get scrubbed,” Kelly said as she left the room.

I lost track of time, and when I finally looked at my arm stumps, they were slightly shriveled, like my hands used to get when I’d spent a long time in the bath. I called for Kelly. When she opened the door, I could smell dinner cooking.

“I thought maybe you were taking a nap,” she said as she picked up a washcloth in one of her hooks. She carefully wound it around so that no metal was exposed and clamped it in position. She held the bar of soap in her other hook and made a lather on the washcloth. She busied herself washing me all over with the washcloth, including my most private places. When she was finished, I stood up and she used her hooks to dry me off. I stepped out of the tub and onto the mat. She started the water draining and got to her knees to finish drying me.

“Let’s get your hooks on, and you can do me,” she said.

I followed her into my bedroom and told her, “Clean stump socks are in the second drawer.”

She opened the drawer and took out a pair of them. A white T-shirt was in there too. She picked up one without opening her hook. She put it on the bed next to the stump socks. She picked up one of the stump socks by the top, and with the help of my arm stump, she easily slipped it over my left arm stump. We used the same procedure with the right arm, followed by the T-shirt. I straightened out the harness as both of my prosthetic arms lay on the bed. I used my ‘lay on my back and wiggle into them’ technique. When I sat up, Kelly pushed both of my arms firmly into position and tightened the straps.

“Finish up, and I’ll get undressed,” Kelly said. “It’s my turn for you to wait on me.”

She left the room, and I slipped on my panties and cutoff blue jeans. As usual, I was able to pull up the zipper but fought with the button. Kelly had showed me many times how to do it, but I still had troubles.

I went to the bathroom and cleaned out the tub, then began drawing a bath for Kelly. When she came into the room, she was completely nude. Every time I saw her like that, I couldn’t help but notice how much nicer her figure was than mine. I noticed how her arm stumps came down to the bottom of her beautifully full, round breasts. My little arm stumps were a little above my nipples.

I added the bubble bath and then shut off the water when the bubbles had formed. Kelly stepped into the tub and sank down just as I had done.

“Holler when you’re ready to get out,” I said. “I want to check my e-mail.”

I left her soaking and went into the kitchen where supper was simmering on the stove. I suddenly realized how hungry I really was as I sat down and turned on the computer. Using my hooks, I was able to turn it on and go on-line. I had an e-mail from Linda, and I sent her a reply. I told her about going horseback riding and seeing the ranch. I, of course, neglected telling her about the money. When I was finished, I was pleased with my continued improvement in my typing skills, even if it was one hook at a time.

Kelly called and was ready to be scrubbed. I used my hooks and scrubbed her the same way she did to me. When I was finished, I helped her dry off.

“Do you need any help with your hooks or stump socks?” I asked when I had finished drying her.

“No, I can manage, thanks,” she replied.

I admired her behind and the silhouette of her fine figure as she left the room. I combed my hair and did some light makeup. It seemed to take forever. Kelly called me for supper.

I had previously set the table, and we sat in our usual places at the table. Kelly passed me the stew that she had prepared and watched as I used my hooks to operate, or at least try to operate, the ladle. She showed me how to hold it to be able to pour some into my bowl. The rest of the supper was uneventful. I didn’t spill too much; actually I’ve done a lot worse.

After supper, it was my job to do the dishes. I loaded the dishwasher and added soap. I was improving handling things, but thank goodness for unbreakable dishes. As I was finishing up, Kelly came back into the kitchen. I instantly noticed that she had taken off her hooks.

“What’s up?” I quizzed. “What happened to your hooks?”

“I took them off,” she replied. “I want you to do the same before the FBI agent gets here. I want us both to appear as helpless as we can.”

We went into my bedroom. I locked the elbow locks in a straight position and lay down on the bed with my arms over my head. I managed to wiggle out of them without too much difficulty. Kelly pulled my stump socks off by using her teeth.

“Is this T-shirt going to be OK?” I asked.

“That’s just the look you want,” she replied. “I want you to look a little helpless, but not completely. Why don’t you practice some toe writing in the living room? He should be along soon.”

When I went into the living room, I found that she had already set up my toe writing exercises. The portfolio and the pencils were neatly laid out on the floor. I sat down on the floor and tucked my left leg toward my butt and worked first at picking up the pencil and, once picked up, put it in position for writing.

Soon there was a knock on the door. Kelly answered the door and used her foot to open the lever handle doorknob. We were both surprised to see Tom standing there.

“Are you going to invite me in, or do I have to stand out here all night?” Tom said with a big smile.

“Sure, come on in,” she said. “I just thought you were someone else.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have called first,” he said thoughtfully. “I can come back another time if you’re expecting company.”

“No, come on in,” Kelly insisted. “We’re waiting for an FBI agent to stop by and talk to us.”

“I heard about the robbery. It’s the talk of Roundup and on all the TV channels. We even made national news. I’m surprised that ZNN hasn’t set up camp here by now. They found the van on your property; didn’t they?”

“That’s what Dave Hawthorn said,” she replied. “He was here when we got back from our ride.”

“Ride?” Tom quizzed.

“I showed Sam the ranch today,” Kelly replied. “We’re both a little sore and tired. Now we’re just relaxing, waiting for the FBI agent.”

“I guess that’s why neither one of you are wearing your prosthetics,” Tom observed.

“My stumps were a little sore, as well as my butt,” I interjected. “She’s got me busy with toe exercises instead of TV.”

“Good for her. How’s the instruction going?”

“Really good. I don’t know where I’d find a better and more patient teacher,” I replied.

Tom had just seated himself on the couch near where I was trying to write with my toes, and he was watching what I was trying to do when there was another knock on the door. Kelly answered it again.

“Kelly Masters?” the woman asked.

“Yes,” Kelly replied.

“I’m Agent Barbara Wilson, FBI,” the woman said, holding up a badge and ID.

“Oh yes. We’ve been expecting you,” Kelly said. “Come on in.”

The agent walked in, and Kelly used her short arm stump to push the door closed. They walked into the living room where Tom and I were sitting.

“These are my friends, Tom and Sam,” she said, pointing in our direction with her arm stumps. “Have a seat.”

“Nice to meet you both,” she said, sitting down in one of the wing-back chairs near the bookshelf. “I’d like to ask you some questions.”

“I’ll leave if you want,” Tom offered, starting to get up.

“No. Please stay,” she said. “Maybe you can offer something too. This is still a preliminary investigation.”

Tom settled back on the couch, and Kelly sat down beside him, then asked, “What can I tell you?”

“You know that there was an armored car robbery today and that the vehicle was found on your property,” Agent Wilson began. “Deputy Hawthorn tells me that you were out riding today. I was wondering if you heard or saw anything?”

“No. Nothing unusual,” Kelly replied. “Mostly the sounds of the horses. Where was the vehicle, you said armored car, found?”

“It was in an abandoned gravel pit,” she replied. “Did I say armored car? I meant van.”

“Like I told Dave, Deputy Hawthorn, we were probably two miles from there on the old west road when we crossed the creek. We stopped for lunch at the creek at about eleven. From there, we headed for the other side of the ranch. We went over to the house that my grandfather built and then looped around to the north and got back here about sundown. Dave was here when we got back.”

“That’s about right,” she said, reflecting as she took notes. “That corresponds with what the commuter pilot told us. He said there were three horses. Were all three of you riding?”

“No, just Sam and I,” Kelly said. “We had a young pack horse with us getting him used to a lead.”

“So Tom, you weren’t there at all?” Agent Wilson asked.

“No, I was at the hospital most of the day,” Tom offered. “I was getting my ER time for CEUs for my EMT certification.”

“Sam, how do you spell your name?” she asked, looking directly toward me.

“S-a-m-a-n-t-h-a C-r-a-w-f-o-r-d,” I said one letter at a time.

“Miss Crawford, did you see or hear anything unusual?” she asked.

“Sam, please,” I replied. “No, nothing out of the usual. That is, except all of the snakes over at the old house. The place was crawling with rattlers.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of that place. The folks around here say there’s a really big den of them. Didn’t they bother you?”

“No, we stayed on the horses,” I replied. “They shied a little, but they were fine.”

“One other question if you don’t mind my prying, how do you handle horses without arms?” she asked.

“Actually, she’s doing quite well,” Kelly interjected. “Sam lost both her arms four months ago. She’s been living out here while I’ve been teaching her how to use her prosthetic arms. I lost mine when I was thirteen.”

“So both of you wear prosthetic hands?” Agent Wilson asked.

“No. Hooks,” Kelly corrected. “We both wear hooks. I’m teaching her how to use hers. I’ve had a few more years of practice than she has.”

“This isn’t about the case, and I hope you don’t mind me prying,” she asked. “I’ve often wondered, but what’s it like not having arms? I can’t imagine how you do it.”

“We live in a world designed for people with hands,” Kelly replied. “When you don’t have them, you learn to do things differently. Before you got here, I had Sam practicing writing with her toes. Show her Sam.”

I picked up the pencil with my toes on my right foot and used my left toes to get it in position. I carefully spelled S-A-M and put the pencil down. I picked up the paper with my toes and passed it to her.

Agent Wilson studied it and said, “Wow, I don’t know if I’d have the patience to learn how to do that.”

“If something is taken away, you have to learn to compensate,” I replied. “That’s what I’m doing living here rather than at home in Great Falls.”

“So you’re not from around here then,” she observed.

“No, my boyfriend and I were passing through when we met up with a hay truck. Bob was killed, and I’m like this now,” I said, looking down at my arm stubs.

“I remember seeing the report of the accident on TV. I’m sorry about your loss,” she said. “What kind of work do you do?”

“Did do,” I corrected. “I assembled micro chip components under a microscope.”

“I see your problem,” Agent Wilson said. “Are you being trained for a new career?”

“I really haven’t started intensive career training yet. I have my laptop computer, and I’m learning how to run it with both my hooks and my toes. Right about now, it’s a toss up, but I think I can do it better with my toes.”

“Why aren’t either of you wearing your prosthetics?” she asked.

“We’ve been wearing them all day out on the trail. Both of our stumps were a little bit sore from handling the horses,” Kelly said. “We took them off after dinner. Besides, now Tom is here. He can help out if either of us needs help.”

“You’re a pretty convenient guy to have around,” Agent Wilson remarked. “Do you do windows too?”

“Not if I can help it,” Tom said.

“Good for you,” she replied. “I should be going now. Are you two sure that you didn’t see or hear anything suspicious?”

“No. Not me,” I replied.

“Me either,” Kelly said. “I’ll give you a call if I find anything changed out of the ordinary.”

“Thank you,” she said, standing up.

We all stood up and I said, “I hope you catch him.”

“Oh, we will. He’ll slip up and try to spend the money. Then we’ll have him,” she said.

“Is the money marked?” Kelly asked.

“No, it was random bills, but there were dye packets in the bundles. If someone tries to open a bundle who doesn’t know what they’re doing, the dye gets all over the money and makes it useless. The dye usually gets on the crook too, and the stains make great evidence in court. We’ll get him eventually; he’ll get careless,” she said confidently. “Thank you for your help.”

Tom opened the door for her. The three of us watched from the porch as she got in her car and drove away. There was a chill in the air, and we went back inside once she was gone.

“So what do you think?” I asked when the three of us were seated once again.

“I think that lady has a robber to find,” Kelly replied. “I hope she finds him.”

“So do I,” Tom said. “I just don’t like it when things like that happen.”

Kelly had Tom turn on the TV. I watched part of ER with them and then went to my room. As I lay on my bed, the thoughts of the day and our unspendable wealth raced through my brain. The words ‘we’ll get him eventually; he’ll get careless’ raced through my mind.

I lay there listening to the muffled sounds of the TV. After a while, there was no sound, then some low giggling from Kelly’s bedroom. I didn’t remember Tom’s truck leaving. I slipped under the covers, and sleep overtook me. My last thought was ‘she got lucky tonight.’

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Chapter 6.

I was the first one up in the morning. After using the facilities, I went through the normal contortion routine putting on my panties and cutoffs. I decided to wear only my Denver Broncos T-shirt. I enjoy the feeling of having my breasts liberated and feeling my nipples rub on the fabric.

I slipped on my sandals and walked the half mile down to the county road and the paper box. It was no easy task getting the paper out of the box. By using my toes and eventually my teeth, I finally did it and spread the paper out on top of the box. The morning paper was filled with the accounts of the robbery and speculation that the guards had an accomplice who was nowhere to be found. The paper said that three million dollars were missing, and Agent Wilson was quoted as saying, “We’ll get him eventually, he’ll get careless.” The TV show The Fugitive popped into my mind, and I envisioned Agent Barbara Wilson chasing Kelly and me all over the country. I had the paper tucked under my arm stump and was nearing the house when Tom’s pickup came down the road toward me. He stopped when he got to me.

“Sleep well last night?” I teased.

“Oh yes. I slept very well,” he replied. “What about you?”

“Once the racket died down,” I countered. “We ought to try a threesome sometime. I bet you’d like that. Getting it on with two armless women.”

His face became a little flushed, and he asked, “What’s in the paper this morning?”

“The robbery takes up most of the front page,” I said. “Agent Wilson says she’s going to get them when they get careless.”

“I hope she does and that they throw the book at him,” Tom stated.

About that time, there was a clap of thunder and the sky looked even more threatening. “Tom, I’d better go. It’s about to rain,” I said.

“See you in a couple of days,” Tom said as the truck started to roll again. “Stay dry.”

I had just made it onto the verandah style porch when it started to rain. Soon it was really coming down. I managed to get the door open with my toes and get inside. I set the paper on the kitchen table and turned to see Kelly come into the room. She was dressed similarly, except that she was wearing her hooks.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning,” I replied. “I got the paper before the rain started. It’s really coming down now.”

“Good. We need the rain. Besides, it will wash away any tracks that we might have left. They shouldn’t be able to follow our trail now,” Kelly offered. “What does the paper say?”

“I just looked briefly at the front page, but agent Wilson says the robber will make a mistake and he’ll be caught.”

“We’ll just have to be sure that he doesn’t make a mistake and they catch him,” she replied.

“The paper says that three million dollars are missing,” I said.

“That’ll save us the trouble of counting it,” Kelly said. “We need to find out how to disable those dye packets. We don’t want our three million dollars ruined now, do we?”

“Maybe I can find something on the Internet. Some of those radical groups may have some information,” I offered.

“Good thought,” she replied. “We need to carefully work out a plan—one that Agent Wilson can’t easily figure out. We’ll take our time and work out every detail.”

“So what are your thoughts so far?” I quizzed.

“We lie low for six months to a year and let the snakes guard it while we use that time to figure out how to eliminate the dye packs. Then we get it to someplace where we can put it in an offshore account,” she said.

“That sounds simple enough, but all the border crossings have customs agents; how are we going to get it out of the country?” I asked.

“I haven’t thought that one out, but there has to be a way,” she said. “We can work out those details, but first we need to neutralize the dye packets.”

“If we need more help, Tom isn’t our guy,” I observed.

“I agree,” Kelly said. “I really like him a lot, but based on those comments he made when Agent Wilson was here and some things he said in bed, you are absolutely right. We’ll have to find someone else. Any ideas?”

“I’ll work on it,” I replied. “I’m starved; let’s go to Roundup for breakfast and listen to the word on the street.”

“Good idea,” she replied. “I’ll help you with your hooks, or do you expect me to feed you?”

We went into my bedroom. Kelly opened my drawer that held my stump socks and got out a pair while I began struggling with my T-shirt. I had it part way off when she helped me with getting it off completely. There was a chill in the room and my nipples were hard.

“You’ve got those things standing at attention,” Kelly said, lightly touching my nipples with the cold steel of her hooks.

Her touch almost sent me through the ceiling. Suddenly my crotch was dripping wet. I can never remember being instantly aroused like that. My entire body was suddenly covered with goose bumps.

“Boy, you’ve done it to me,” I said. “I’ve been aroused, but never like that.”

“I’m sorry,” she said apologetically.

“Don’t be,” I replied. “That was the most wonderful feeling I’ve ever had. If you touched my clit right about now, I’d have an orgasm right here.”

“Well?” she asked. “I got lucky last night, and I can sure do that if you want.”

I was speechless and didn’t know what to say, so I only nodded. She deftly used her hooks to quickly pull my shorts with the elastic waistband down. My panties followed suit, which left me standing with only my sandals on. I stepped out of them as I lay down on the bed on my back. Kelly knelt down on the floor next to my bed and put one of her hooks in my crotch while she touched the nipple nearest to her with her tongue. She moved her hook slightly, and it touched my clit. It took only seconds for my excitement to become a full blown, writhing, screaming orgasm. She was able to keep her hook in position on my clit while I writhed and thrashed around on the bed. Eventually my feeling of ecstasy passed, and I came back to earth. I lay there breathless.

“Well?” Kelly asked. “Was it as good as it looked from here? It looked like a wild one.”

“Wild doesn’t even begin to describe it,” I gasped. “I’ve had orgasms, but never anything like that.”

“So I did it the way you wanted?” she asked as she stood back up.

“My gosh yes,” I replied as I lay there breathless. “That was wonderful!”

“Good. You can do it to me sometime,” she said casually. “Let’s get going to town.”

I managed to spin myself around, and Kelly helped me get dressed again, but this time dressed to go to town. It was still raining by the time we were ready, and I was glad that the machinery shed that people in the city called carports was only fifty feet from the house and had a good gravel path to it. I darted quickly across with Kelly right on the heels of my cowboy boots.

“Wow! It’s really coming down,” I said when we were completely in the dry under the cover of the tin roof.

“Good thing,” Kelly replied. “Our tracks from yesterday should be completely washed away by now. There is no way in hell Agent Wilson can track us now.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure of that,” I said when I was inside the cab and struggling to get my seat belt fastened using my hooks.

“You’re right,” she replied. “We don’t want to get over confident and screw this one up.”

She started the pickup and backed out of the machinery shed and then drove forward toward the highway.

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Chapter 7.

Within less than a half hour, we were in Roundup and parking in front of the restaurant on Main Street.

Every head in the place turned toward us as we walked into the restaurant. The usual gang was there, and their scrutinizing examination continued as we walked past them to a booth in the back out of the smoking area. As we walked past, I couldn’t help but hear the whispers about our prosthetic hooks.

I slid into one side, and Kelly slid into the other side of the large booth. The waitress was there almost immediately asking if we had seen the specials. We acknowledged that we had, and she left leaving the menus behind. It took me a moment to get it open and hold it in reading position securely clamped in my hooks. We both decided, and the waitress took our order. She had no sooner left us to ourselves when Deputy Dave Hawthorn came in and started through the gauntlet seated at the counter. He eventually made his way back to where we were seated.

“Morning Kelly, Sam,” he said, politely removing his western style hat.

“Good morning,” we both replied in unison.

“What brings you two to town?” he quizzed.

“Breakfast,” Kelly replied. “I ran out pancake mix. Won’t you sit down?”

I scooted over, and he slid in beside me. The waitress came by and brought us three coffees. Deputy Dave refused the offer of further breakfast.

“So have you caught the robbers?” I asked as I carefully attached one hook to the ring of the coffee cup.

“The robbers caught themselves,” he said.

“I don’t understand?” Kelly questioned.

“It appears as though both of the robbers shot each other,” he started. “From what we can find out, the robbers appeared to have masqueraded as guards and were given the money to deliver up here to Roundup. They probably met an accomplice or stashed the money somewhere along the way to your place. We think they were abandoning the van in your gravel pit. We’ve surmised that the two of them must have gotten into an argument and shot each other. Ballistics and number of shots bears that out. Each was shot by the other’s gun.”

“So you’ve recovered the money then?” I said.

“No. I didn’t say that,” he replied. “We’ve determined that they shot each other. Because the money is gone, we think they had an accomplice, or they hid it before they killed each other.”

“What makes you think they had an accomplice?” Kelly quizzed.

“There were some strange footprints. They were only faint outlines, and we were going back this morning to look around some more. That was, until the rain started. No sense going back up there now. Everything’s washed away with this rain.”

“I bet it has,” Kelly agreed. “We were having a real gully washer when we left the house, and it looked like more was on the way. What about those mysterious prints?”

“I showed then to Agent Wilson, but she wasn’t much interested,” he said. “Didn’t even take a picture of them. They’re gone for good now.”

“So what happened to the money?” I asked.

“Who knows?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s almost sixty miles to Billings from here, and you go through the Bull Mountains. It could be anyplace. Hell, they could have even buried it over at your place Kelly.”

“Well, we won’t be out digging much,” Kelly said, holding her hooks up in front of his face. “Have you ever tried running a shovel with these?”

“N . . . n . . . no . . . No, I haven’t,” he stammered. “I bet life must be hell not having hands and the like.”

“It’s what you get used to,” Kelly said.

“I’m just getting used to it,” I offered. “I’ll be glad to trade places if you want.”

“NO THANKS!” he said emphatically. “I don’t know what I would do if something like that happened to me.”

“You learn to live with it and move on,” Kelly countered. “You figure out how to do things and move on. The toughest part is watching people stare at you.”

“Do you feel self-conscious then?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” she replied.

“I sure as hell do though,” I interjected.

“That’s one of the reasons you’ll see us around more now,” Kelly offered. “I’m working on helping her get over the looky-lews.”

Deputy Dave’s radio began squawking, and he answered it. We overheard the dispatcher tell him that some horses were loose up on Chandler Road. He told her he was on his way.

“I’ve got to go,” he said almost apologetically as he slid out from the seat beside me and stood up.

“Come out and see us when you can stay a while,” Kelly offered. “We can do some burgers on the grill.”

“I’ll give you a call,” he said as he backed away almost tripping over a table.

Our breakfasts were delivered and more coffee poured. I could see out of the corner of my eye the menagerie watching us as we ate. I was glad when I finished and could return my hooks to the safety of my lap. I dreaded the return walk past the gauntlet and breathed a sigh of relief when we made it back to the safety of the pickup.

“That wasn’t so bad now, was it?” Kelly questioned when we were both seated safely in the cab of her four-wheel drive pickup away from the prying mob.

“I hated it,” I said.

“Well girl, get used to it. It’s now a fact of life for you,” Kelly said in one of her stern voices. “There’s no going back, and things aren’t going to get better. No matter what you do or how you try to hide your hooks, people are going to stare. We’ve got to get you over that.”

“I hate going out in public like this,” I protested.

“Have you enrolled in school yet?” she asked.

“No. I haven’t gotten around to it,” I said.

“Billings is our next stop then,” Kelly said. “Let’s at least pick up the registration forms.”

“I suppose,” I pouted.

“Look Sam,” Kelly said, starting the pickup. “You have to be around people more to gain your confidence. You’re a quick learner and won’t have any problem at all in school. Besides, academia tends to accept people for what they can do, rather than seeing you as a good-looking babe with hooks.”

She started the pickup, and we headed for Billings and school. The drive through the Bull Mountains was beautiful, with tall pine trees spread majestically around. I enjoyed looking at the small farms and ranches that had built up near the highway. Suddenly the scenery changed abruptly when we entered the burned off area. Kelly explained that a fierce forest fire fifteen years ago had swept through the area. It was so hot that even the seeds from the pine trees that are usually released during a forest fire were destroyed. The area looked like we could have been on the moon. We dropped over the top of the mountain and started a long descent into the valley below.

“I remember that place,” I said as we went past a little bar out in the middle of nowhere. “That’s the Tumbleweed Saloon. Boy, did I get hammered in there.”

“Too bad it’s closed; we could stop for some refreshments,” Kelly offered.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “I have enough difficulty operating these hooks sober. I’d hate to see me try it drunk.”

“You do tend to have memory lapses,” she replied as we continued on toward Billings.

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Chapter 8.

When we started through Billings, I was surprised when she turned up toward the airport. I didn’t say anything as we pulled up on top of the hill better known as ‘the rims,’ named for the rim rocks. The view of the city below was almost breathtaking. I had been through the outskirts of Billings before but only to catch the freeway east to South Dakota and the motorcycle rally. We pulled off of the road at an overlook and parked the pickup. I had not expected to see several high-rise buildings. After all, this is Montana.

“Both of the colleges are right at the base of the hill,” Kelly said.

“I’m surprised how big the city is,” I remarked.

“It wasn’t that big when I was growing up. But that was before the oil boom.”

We drove back out into traffic and turned right at the stop sign to start down the long hill into town. We turned into the college and found the registrar’s office. When we went inside, the young receptionist studied us briefly. I couldn’t help but notice how her eyes kept darting toward our hooks. I felt uneasy, but not as bad as I did in the restaurant.

“I would like to see someone about enrolling for computer classes,” I said, a bit on the uneasy side.

She quickly dialed a number and soon a tall man with a neatly trimmed beard and wire rim glasses appeared. I knew he had seen my hooks as he approached, as I had my elbows locked at about a forty-five-degree angle with the floor. I almost didn’t know what to do when he offered his hand to shake. I was uneasy about returning the gesture by putting my right hook in his hand. It was over for me in a minute, and he nonchalantly offered his hand to Kelly as well before inviting us into his office. He introduced himself as Dean Hargrove and asked us to sit down in one of the chairs that he had arranged in a small circle.

“What can I do for you?” he said when he was seated.

“My name is Samantha Crawford, and this is Kelly Masters. Well, I was involved in this little accident, and now I need to find a different career,” I said. “My days of assembling small computer components under a microscope are over. Kelly has been teaching me how to use my hooks. I would like to learn computer programming.”

“And you think learning computer programming will be a good career change for you?” he quizzed.

“I’ve always liked computers, and I’d like to learn more,” I countered.

“Can you type using your prostheses?” he asked.

“You mean my hooks,” I replied. “My speed isn’t nearly what it used to be, but I can get it done after a fashion.”

“So using your h . . . hooks,” he began.

“Yes, hooks,” I interrupted. “These damn things that they gave me for hands are nothing but a pair of hooks.”

“Like I was saying, you can use your hooks to type slowly?” he said.

“Slowly would describe it,” I said. “I’ve been using my laptop for practice.”

“OK. Let me put this as gently as possible,” he said. “Suppose that we did put you through a series of classes and you could do the work ‘after a fashion’; would an employer choose you over someone who could do the same amount of work say in half the time?”

“Probably not,” I said dejectedly.

“Now I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings, but we need to face reality,” he said.

“You didn’t,” I said. “I face reality every morning when I put these hooks on. I face reality every time during the day when I try to do something that I’ve always done and find that I need to find a different way to do it. Yes, I have to face reality all right.”

“Good, you’re well on your way then,” he said. “What I would suggest that you do is to take a series of aptitude tests.”

“What good would that do?” I quizzed.

“It would find out what you are good at and what you would really like to do with your life,” he said. “I will measure you against other students to see how you stack up. It’s been my experience that when you finish the tests and we sit down with the results, a clear career path will pop right out at you.”

“What do you think Kelly?” I asked.

“I’d go for it,” she responded. “What have you got to lose?”

“How much does this cost?” I quizzed.

“Usually it’s a little on the expensive side. However, I do have grant money available. With the extent of your injuries, we should have no problem qualifying you,” he said.

“Let’s go for it,” I said. “How soon can we do it?”

“The next class will be in three weeks. We can test you next week and have the results when the class starts,” he said.

“Great,” I said as I glanced over to see Kelly nodding an approval.

“I’ll get you some forms to fill out, and you get back as soon as you can,” he said. “The packet will also have some career brochures in jobs that you haven’t even thought about.”

He got up and went to his desk and picked up the phone. He gave some instructions to the person on the other end of the line in some type of cryptic language foreign to me. Kelly and I got up when he finished.

“The packet will be waiting for you at the reception desk,” he said.

“We shouldn’t be taking any more of your time,” I said.

“That’s what I get paid for,” he said again, offering his hand. “Thank you for stopping by, and good luck on the tests.”

“I’ll need it,” I said, returning the gesture and offering him my hook again.

“Thank you,” Kelly said as he took her hook. “I’ll be sure that we get that paperwork completed.”

We picked up the packet at the receptionist. She glanced but did not stare as I used my hook to grasp the packet as she handed it to me. Kelly unlocked the pickup door with her remote key, and we got in for the return trip home.

“Well, what did you think?” I asked as we started toward the downtown area.

“I think he was very direct and to the point,” she replied. “He didn’t mince any words or candy coat things. I think that he wanted you to be able to survive in the real world. But now, let’s go shopping,” she said, pulling into an RV lot.

“What are we looking for?” I quizzed.

“I’m looking for a camper or canopy that can properly haul a special cargo without raising a great deal of suspicion,” she replied, turning off the pickup.

I gave her a grin as we got out of the cab and began to look around. Soon we were joined by a salesman eager to show us the most expensive thing on the lot.

“I’m looking for a canopy that we can use for camping,” Kelly told him. “I’d like one with a floor preferably.”

“How many do you want to sleep?” he quizzed.

“Just the two of us,” she replied.

“Don’t you need someone else to help you out camping?” he said, looking down at our hooks.

“No, we can manage just fine,” Kelly snapped back. “We usually pack in, and we’re getting tired of sleeping on the ground. We also wanted to venture into bear country where the Forest Service won’t let you tent camp.”

“So you’re looking for a camper?” he pressed.

“No, damn it,” Kelly said, becoming disgusted with Mr. Macho the salesman. “We just want a canopy that we can sleep in. I’d like one with a floor so that we can unload it easily by ourselves. Something like that one over there.” She pointed in the direction of the rear of the lot. We all began to walk toward the unit she had pointed to with her hook. It was just what she had in mind. The canopy was only a couple of inches higher than the cab of the pickup and had an aluminum skin. It had a floor system that would allow the whole unit to be easily slid into the bed of the pickup. “This is kind of what I’m looking for,” she said.

“We can make you a real deal on this one,” he said, starting the bartering process.

“I just bet you can,” Kelly replied.

The whole discussion finally ended up with Kelly telling him that she needed to think about the price and him saying that it might not be here when she came back. Kelly wouldn’t budge on her position, so we walked back to her pickup.

When we were back in the cab and out of earshot of the salesman, Kelly said, “That canopy is perfect.”

“Are we really going camping?” I quizzed. “I’ve only been camping once.”

“Sure, we can if you want,” she replied. “I was looking for an outfit with a hiding place for a little money.”

“Oh,” I said. “Where was the hiding place on that one? It only seemed like a fancy box to me.”

“The space ahead of the wheel well isn’t accessible once the outfit is in place,” she said. “All we have to do is to put the bags in the bed of the pickup just ahead of the wheel well and slide the outfit in place and bolt it down. The only way we can get at the money is to slide the outfit out of the way and bingo.”

“Why didn’t you buy it then if it’s so perfect?” I quizzed.

“I didn’t like that patronizing son-of-a-bitch of a salesman. Did you see the way he looked at us poor helpless girls with hooks?” she said. “Now we know the unit is out there, we can look around for a bargain.”

“Ya, I noticed. Your hooks and your tits were the only things he looked at,” I observed. “I don’t think he could make up his mind which he wanted to look at the most.”

“I bet I could go in there in with a low-cut blouse, and he’d knock two hundred dollars off the price.”

“Are you going to do it?” I quizzed.

“Damn right I am,” Kelly said as she started the pickup and began to back up. “I think I’ll wear my cutoff blue jeans too. That’ll get him for sure. We’ll dress you up the same way.”

We drove over to the ranch supply store. They stared at us both as I pushed the shopping cart while Kelly loaded our supplies. The clerk at the checkout was friendly and looked us both in the eye, not at our hooks. She did sneak a peek at Kelly’s hooks as Kelly signed the credit card slip.

The next stop was McDonalds. I managed to make a mess out of the hamburger. I completely squished it with my hooks. I felt strange licking them off when I was finished.

Our last stop out of town was for gas. We pulled into the station and filled up both tanks, forty dollar’s worth. I went inside with Kelly to pay, and while she was taking care of the transaction, I picked out a bottle of pop. I paid for my soda and noticed the Power Ball Lottery was up to fifty million, so I bought a ticket. The clerk looked at my hooks as I struggled to get the money out of my purse.

“That was the waste of a dollar,” Kelly said as we walked back to the pickup.

“Somebody’s got to win,” I replied. “It might as well be me.”

“Sure,” she said as she got into the pickup and used her hook to slip the key into the ignition and start the engine. “You might just as well go stand in the middle of the K-mart parking lot over there and hope to get struck by lightning. You’ve got better odds.”

“I know,” I lamented as she pulled out and turned toward Roundup. “That’s why I only buy one ticket when the jackpot gets that high. What the hell, I just might get hit.”

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Chapter 9.

When we got back to the ranch, Kelly parked the pickup in the machinery shed, and instead of getting out, she just sat there looking at the horse trailer parked next to us. It was one of the long ones nicknamed a goose neck trailer that is supported on a ball mounted in the center of the pickup bed.

“What are you looking at?” I finally asked.

“I bet we could build a secret compartment up in the front of that horse trailer to smuggle our money,” she said.

“Right,” I said sarcastically. “You and I, ‘The Hook Ladies,’ build a secret compartment.”

“Well, maybe for you and me building it is a little beyond our abilities,” Kelly conceded. “I know that Fred could do it.”

“Just what did you have in mind?” I quizzed.

“We could put a false floor in the raised area in the front where we store the tack,” she answered. “He could make it just large enough to give us a place that will hold the money while we cross the border. It’ll work.”

“Well, it would be cheaper than buying that camper arrangement from Mr. Leer.”

“Exactly. And I wouldn’t have to deal with that bastard either,” Kelly said with a big smile. “Even though I would like to rub his nose in it.”

“Isn’t pulling a horse trailer a lot more conspicuous than the little camper though?” I asked.

“You’ve got a good point,” Kelly said thoughtfully. “We’ll have to give it some more thought.”

“So what’s the plan once we cross the border?” I quizzed.

“We simply box the money up and mail it to an offshore bank of our choosing.”

“And how do we find out about offshore banks?”

“I have a good friend in Billings who deals in that kind of stuff; besides, he’s also my attorney.”

“Aren’t you worried about him turning us in?”

“Not really,” Kelly replied. “I think attorney client privilege will probably keep him from telling.”

“Maybe he’ll handle it for us for a cut?”

“Probably a big cut if I know Archie. He’ll probably want a third at least. Maybe even half.”

“I’ll give him a call tomorrow and see what I can weasel out of him,” Kelly said. “He owes me a favor or two.”

We walked into the house. I used the bathroom while Kelly read the paper. When I came back into the kitchen, Kelly had a big smile on her face.

“I almost forgot,” she said. “Tonight is the Volunteer Fireman’s Ball in town.”

“So?” I responded.

“The Fireman’s Ball is one of the highlights of the year for Roundup. Tom will be by to pick us up at seven-thirty.”

“I don’t feel much like going to some old Fireman’s Ball,” I objected.

“Why, because of your hooks?”

“I guess maybe so.”

“Leave them at home then.”

“Hell, that won’t work. You know how helpless I am without them,” I replied.

“Well, wear them then,” Kelly countered. “You won’t be alone. I’ll be there with you, and I know of one guy who will probably be there that has one too. He also has two legs that Fred made for him. Bill had a little problem with a gang plow.”

“I don’t know.”

“The outing will do you good. Besides, the firemen who rescued you will be glad to see you up and around. It will be a good morale boost for them.”

“OK. I’ll go,” I said. “I’m going to lie down on my bed for a while. By the way, what do I wear?”

“You go lie down for a while, and I’ll work on that.”

I walked into my room and spread out on my back. I wiggled around a little and got the weight of my hooks off of my shoulders. Before too long, I was sleeping.

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Chapter 10.

When I awoke, I could tell it was late afternoon by the shadows on the wall. I was stiff when I finally got to my feet. I worked my legs, then my trunk, and eventually my short arm stumps which held my prosthetic hooks. I put the hooks through their paces, opening and closing each hook and repositioning my mechanical elbows.

Kelly wasn’t around when I went out into the kitchen. The packet of material that we had picked up at the college was on the table. I was able to get it open and began to look through the brochures that were included, along with the four page background questionnaire that needed to be completed. I found a pen and laboriously began to fill out the paperwork. Kelly had taught me how to write with my hooks, but sometimes I thought I did better with my toes. I had the first page done when Kelly walked in.

“Horses are fed,” she announced as she released the bucket handle from her right hook. “We need to think about getting ready to go. Tom should be along in about a half hour.”

“What about supper?” I quizzed.

“Tom’s going to take us out for supper,” Kelly said.

“I feel like an extra wheel around you two,” I said. “Why don’t I stay here?”

“Nonsense!” Kelly said forcefully. “You’re going. So don’t argue.”

“OK,” I replied softly.

“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” Kelly said. “It’s just that we need to get you out more now that you can handle those hooks.”

“I know. I just feel so conspicuous. Like everyone is staring at me.”

“It’s because they are,” Kelly countered. “You are a beautiful young girl, and they are curious about you and those hooks. You might not think so, but you and those hooks make a very erotic package.”

“I don’t think of these damned hooks as erotic. They’re a pain-in-the-ass nuisance.”

“They’re better than the alternative of no hooks at all. You’d be surprised how many men are turned on by the sight of those hooks. Coupled with your good looks, you are a real turn-on.”

“You’re putting me on,” I said.

“No, I’m not,” Kelly responded. “I’ll bet you a dollar someone else will be driving you back out here tonight, and it will be by your choice.”

“OK. You’re on,” I responded as I struggled to manipulate my hooks trying to get the papers back in the folder. “What should I wear?”

“Try that low cut white blouse. Keep it up on your shoulders. That short leather skirt and heels should round out the outfit. I’ll do your hair.”

“What about nylons? I don’t have any,” I said.

“I don’t either. I never wear them because they’re so easy to snag with my hooks,” Kelly replied. “Shave your legs, and you’ll be fine.”

I went into my room and got out the clothing that Kelly had suggested. I stripped down to my bra and panties and went into the bathroom. Shaving my legs is always a challenge. Today was no exception. As always, I had a hard time getting the razor positioned at just the right angle to do the job without cutting myself. After a fashion, I accomplished the task without injury.

The leather skirt was easy to get on, but the blouse was another story. After a few minutes, I called for Kelly. When she got there, she had a huge grin on her face and quickly straightened the blouse for me, including getting it tucked into the skirt. She had me sit in the chair in front of the dressing table while she first brushed my hair. Her dexterity with her hooks still amazed me, and I wondered if I could ever handle mine as well. She finished me off with simple barrettes on each side of my head. She left me to do my makeup and lipstick.

I heard Tom’s outfit drive up, and soon he was knocking on the door. Kelly had me let him in while she finished getting ready.

“You look sharp tonight,” he complimented and made me blush.

“Kelly’s just about ready,” I said. “I need to get my shoes.”

He followed me into the living room and sat down while I continued on into my bedroom. The black three-inch heels that I had seemed a little dated, but they would work for the outfit.

I looked in the full length mirror in the hall and had to think that I looked pretty hot. The blouse sleeves ended right about where my biceps used to be, about midway down upper arms. The front cut of the blouse exposed some cleavage. My black leather skirt came down to about mid-thigh and was relatively snug. The heels made my calf muscles stand out. I really would have liked nylons because, as well as their looks, I like their smooth feel, but oh well.

I was about to walk into the living room when Kelly came out of her room. She was a knockout in her outfit. She was wearing a traditional denim western outfit. The beautifully beaded vest protruded because of her breasts, and the three-quarter length sleeves of her blouse covered her mechanical elbows. She was wearing cowboy boots below the denim skirt with fringe.

“Hey, you look cool,” she said as she approached me.

“You look pretty cool yourself,” I commented. “I really like that vest.”

We walked into the living room together, and Tom whistled. He stood up and pushed back his cowboy hat.

“Wow. Both of you are knockouts,” he said. “I’m glad I cleaned out my outfit.”

We all started out the door. Kelly locked it behind us. Tom held the passenger side door of his four-wheel drive pickup while Kelly slid in first. I climbed up and in next, leaving Tom to close the door behind me. I could have done it myself, but it was much easier to accept his gentlemanly offer.

Tom got in, and after the three of us were properly buckled in, the diesel pickup rattled to life. In a few minutes, we were on the county road heading toward town.

“So where are you taking us to dinner, The A and W?” Kelly quizzed.

“How about Stealla’s?” he replied.

“Works for me,” Kelly replied.

“I’ve never been there,” I quipped. “She only takes me to The Pioneer.”

“They say the new cook is pretty good. I thought we’d give him a try,” Tom said.

The rest of the trip was taken up by Tom’s blow-by-blow account of the grass fire they’d fought a few days ago. I shuddered as we went past the hospital. We pulled into the parking lot, and I noticed that there were quite a few cars parked there.

“Do you think we can get in?” Kelly asked. “It looks pretty busy.”

“I talked to Betty. They’re expecting us. Besides, most of the cars are bowlers.”

“I don’t see a sign for a bowling ally,” I said.

“I know,” Kelly replied. “I guess in a town this size everyone knows where the bowling ally is, so they don’t need the expense of a sign.”

“Make sense to me,” I quipped as Tom shut the diesel pickup off and got out.

He opened my door, and I slid out down to the ground. I wavered a little in my high heels, and he caught me by the mechanical elbow of my right hook. No words were exchanged, and I got out of the way while Kelly got out.

An open air Jeep pulled in beside us, and the driver got out. He was tall and fit and dressed in typical go-to-town western attire, attire that included his best go-to-town cowboy hat.

“How’s it going Joe?” Tom inquired.

“Can’t complain,” he replied. “Keeping busy. Staying out of trouble.”

Tom had reached the door first, and after an awkward you-go-first, Kelly led and I followed. Joe followed Tom in and up the stairs to the dining room. The place was quite busy, and we finally caught Betty’s eye.

“Be right with you,” she said as she scurried by.

We all stood there for a couple of minutes. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the restaurant staring at my shiny hooks which hung at my sides. Betty finally came to our rescue.

“Thought there was only going to be three of you,” Betty said.

“There is,” Tom replied. “Joe’s on his own.”

“We’ve only got the table I’ve been saving for you left,” she complained.

“Why don’t you join us?” I piped up.

“Are you sure?” Joe said hesitantly, looking at all three of us cautiously.

Kelly looked awkwardly at Tom, then at me, then back at Tom.

“It’s fine with us,” she said.

Joe smiled, and Betty led us to our table in a lounge type booth that you would see in a Las Vegas showroom. Kelly and I slid around the back, and the two fellows sat opposite one another with Joe on my right and Tom seated next to Kelly.

“Joe, you haven’t met Sam, have you?” Kelly said.

“No, I guess I haven’t,” he said.

“Joe Daniels, this is Samantha Crawford,” Kelly said. “She’s staying with me while she learns to use her hooks.”

He didn’t say anything but nodded my way and smiled. Betty took our drink order. The guys both had Bud Lites, and Kelly and I had mixed drinks. Kelly ordered a daiquiri, and I ordered a Scotch on the rocks.

“People just call me Sam,” I said, breaking the ice. “Are you from around here?”

“Whenever I can,” he replied. “I spend a lot of time on the road hauling hay.”

“I know about them,” I said. “Up close and personal. That’s how I got these hooks.”

“I was at the wreck,” Joe said, quietly looking down.

“Joe’s in the Fire Department with us,” Tom interjected quickly.

“I noticed your pager like Tom’s. Are you an EMT too?” I quizzed.

“No,” Joe replied. “That kind of stuff doesn’t appeal to me. Being as I’m on the road so much, I wouldn’t have time to keep up on the schooling and such. I just mostly drive the tanker to supply extra water for the fire trucks when I’m in town and I can.”

Betty brought our drinks. I had to reposition my elbow to be able to grasp my glass. Kelly had already done hers in anticipation of the move. Once we had all placed our orders, Betty told us to go to the salad bar when we were ready.

“Here’s to a fun evening,” Kelly offered, holding her glass up.

We all took a drink. I managed to drink the top half of my drink without making a mess.

“Are you in town for the Fireman’s Ball?” Tom quizzed.

“I’m going to tend bar for the second hour,” Joe replied.

“I’ve got the first shift,” Tom offered. “I don’t know who has the last two.”

“I’m not sure,” Joe said.

When we had finished most of our drinks, Joe got up from the table.

“Would you like me to make you a salad?” he asked.

I was a bit taken back by the generous offer from someone I had just met. “Yes, thank you. A green salad with a little Blue Cheese and bacon bits.”

“Coming up,” he said, walking toward the salad bar. Tom had taken a similar order from Kelly and left the two of us sitting there.

“He’s kinda cute,” I said. “He has a nice ass.”

“He does manage to fill out those jeans,” Kelly replied.

Joe and Tom both returned at the same time with the salad plates loaded. Our individual plates were set before each of us. I couldn’t have asked for a better looking salad. It was made just the way I like it. The lettuce was in small enough pieces that I didn’t have to fight with it. I managed to get through the salad without making a mess.

Betty brought two little loaves of bread. Joe cut the one on our end of the table.

“Would you like me to butter a slice for you?” he asked.

I nodded yes, and he buttered the slice, then held it out in such position that I could easily grasp it. I was very careful not to let my hook close with too much pressure to keep from smashing the soft slice.

“You handle those prosthetic arms very well,” he said.

“Thank you. I have a great teacher,” I replied. “It’s just easier to call them hooks though.”

“I stand corrected. Hooks,” he countered.

“She’s trying to make me as independent as possible given the circumstances. I can do a lot of things even though I have to do them differently now. I’m learning more every day, but I realize that there are some things I’ll never be able to do again.”

Betty brought out our dinner orders and placed them in front of us. The steaks were large and done to what smelled like perfection. Joe cut a piece of his own steak and saw that I was having a bit of difficulty cutting mine. Without saying a word, he cut off several bit size pieces off of my steak for me. He didn’t say anything, but when he saw me smiling at him, he returned the smile and included a wink.

I continued eating and not making a mess for a change. When I had devoured the first pieces of steak, he finished cutting it up for me.

“Be careful you don’t spoil her,” Kelly quipped. “I’ve got to live with her.”

“You’ve got to pamper her a little. After all, how often do you get to town for a good steak dinner?” Joe replied.

“This is one of my first outings. The first one for steak,” I said.

“Then enjoy,” Joe said as he began to finish his own steak.

Everyone worked on their meal in relative silence with only light conversation. Tom looked at his watch several times.

“How are we doing for time?” Kelly asked Tom.

“I’ve got a few more minutes,” he replied.

I looked at everyone else’s plate; they were all almost finished. I was about halfway done.

“I’ll try to hurry,” I said.

“Relax and take your time,” Joe offered. “I’ll give you a ride over to the Ball if you want.”

“What do you think?” I said, looking at Kelly.

“It’s fine with me if you want to,” she replied. “It will probably be our best plan.”

“I’m sorry that I’m so slow. I just don’t want to make a mess.”

“That’s good. I’m proud of you,” Kelly said.

“You guys go ahead,” Joe said. “I’ll take care of the check. You can pay me at the dance.”

“Thanks man,” Tom said as he stood up and Kelly slid out around his end of the booth.

“Are you going to be OK?” Tom asked me.

“I’ll be fine,” I replied. “I’ll be in good hands with Joe.”

They both smiled and started toward the door. Tom was holding onto Kelly’s right hook as they walked down the steps.

“They make a nice couple,” I remarked. “I wonder why they don’t get serious.”

“Tom told me that he got really stung in a relationship just before he moved here. He just needs some space for a while to be sure that Kelly’s the one. I know he likes her a lot.”

“So what goes on at the Fireman’s Ball?” I quizzed.

“Just our annual party where we invite the public in. We make enough to help pay for some equipment. We dance and have a bar. Later on, they’ll have desserts, then dance some more. You’ll have a good time.”

“I’m not really excited about going. I’m terribly self-conscious about these damn hooks.”

“You can always take them off and leave them out in the Jeep.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. Without my hooks, I can’t do a damn thing. They’re hot and heavy, but I really don’t have a choice if I want to pick up anything at all. I can do some things with my toes, but I don’t want to try it in public.”

“Like what can you do?”

“I can write fairly well. I can type a little with my toes on the computer. I can work the bathtub faucet and sink faucet with my toes. I can flush the toilet. Kelly had me working on feeding myself with a fork, but I’ve got a long way to go in mastering that.”

“So why can’t you get along at the dance without your hooks? It sounds to me like you’re getting along pretty well, considering.”

“I do enjoy having a drink or two, but I wouldn’t be able to pick it up,” I countered.

“I could hold it for you or give you a straw and have you sit at the bar on a stool while I’m working.”

“Are you trying to get me to take my hooks off?”

“No, it’s up to you,” Joe said. “You said you were uncomfortable with them, and I was offering a solution to your problem.”

“I appreciate that, and at this point, I have a good mind to go without them.”

“Take your time and finish your dinner. You have plenty of time to decide.”

I continued to finish my dinner. I was proud of myself when I cleaned my plate without making a mess. The waitress brought our check by, and we decided to have another drink. I managed to fish the right amount of money for my share out of my purse. When the waitress brought our drinks, my Scotch and water had a straw. Joe put it in front of me, and I took a drink with my hooks in my lap.

“How does that work?” Joe asked.

“I think I can handle this,” I replied. “When we get to the dance, Kelly can help me take my hooks off. We can lock them up in Tom’s pickup. I’d hate to let anyone steal these things.”

“Are you sure you want to do that? I’m not trying to talk you into this, am I?”

“No, it’s my decision,” I replied. “I just want you to promise to take care of me, OK?”

“No problem. Your wish will be my command,” Joe promised.

When we had finished our drinks, Joe got up and I slid out of the booth. I slipped my purse strap over my head. We walked down the steps, and Joe opened the door for me. A new adventure was about to begin, and I didn’t even realize it.

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Chapter 11.

Joe and I walked across the parking lot to his outfit. I slid into the passenger seat of his open air Jeep. He fastened the seatbelt for me.

“I can do seatbelts,” I offered.

“Just practicing taking care of you,” he quipped before he walked around to his side and got in. He started the engine, and we were on our way. The wind in my face instantly reminded me of the motorcycle, the crotch rocket, and I felt a chill run up my spine. I did my best to shrug it off and smiled at Joe. He must have felt me smile because he turned and smiled at me. In only a minute or two, we were pulling into the hall where they were holding the ball. The banner that hung across the front of the building proudly announced “Annual Fireman’s Ball.”

I unfastened my seatbelt before Joe could do it. I got out, and Joe walked by my side as we walked to the main entrance where one of the members was taking tickets.

“She’s with me Harold,” Joe said, and like magic, we were inside. Kelly was standing by the bar where Tom was pouring drinks.

“Hi there,” Kelly said. “Looks like you made it safe and sound.”

“No problem. But I’ve decided to take my hooks off so I won’t be so conspicuous.”

“Are you sure?” Kelly quizzed.

“I’ve thought it out. Joe will take care of me,” I said.

“OK,” Kelly said with a shrug. “Let’s go into the women’s restroom then. I’ll help you.”

She led the way, and I followed. We walked down the hallway and opened the door into the restroom. She pushed the door closed and helped me unbutton my blouse. Her dexterity with her hooks still amazed me. With my blouse hanging over the toilet partition, Kelly had me lock my elbows straight, then raise both arms over my head and bend forward at the waist. She grasped both of my hooks, and I felt the liners slip off of my stumps. When I straightened up and tuned around, the harness fell free from my back. She laid the arms on the vanity and helped me take off the stump socks. She put my blouse back on me and tucked it in. I looked in the mirror and noticed that my arm stumps were not quite exposed. I thought I looked pretty good.

“How do I look?” I asked.

“A little funny. I’m used to seeing you with your hooks on,” Kelly offered. “But you do look a lot lighter. You’ll be fine. Do you want to take your panties off so that you can use the rest room without help?”

“Good idea,” I replied.

She reached up under my short leather skirt with a hook on each thigh. The cold steel gave me a quick shiver as she latched onto each side and quickly had them down to my knees. She released her hooks, and they fell around my feet. I stepped out of them, and she put my panties in my purse. Next, she hung my arms over my right shoulder by the harness and hung my stump socks on top of them. She had me open the door with my toes. Luckily, the door was equipped with a lever handle, and once I’d stepped out of my high heel, I had no problem opening it. Kelly held the door while I stepped back into my shoe. I led the way, and Kelly followed me back into the main ballroom. Joe was waiting for us. He and I walked back outside.

“Where are you going to put those?” Joe asked.

“We don’t have any place to lock them in your Jeep; let’s lock them in Tom’s pickup. He won’t care,” I replied.

Joe opened the passenger’s side door and pulled the seat forward, exposing the jump seat. He took my stump socks first and laid them on the small seat. Next, he took both of my arms by grasping them by the mechanical elbows and laid them on the back seat allowing the harness to drape toward the floor. He locked all of the doors of the pickup.

“You’re going to have show me how those arms work sometime,” he said as he locked the door.

“That can probably be arranged,” I replied.

We went back inside, and Joe got us a couple of drinks. Mine was in a tall glass and had a straw. We found a table that was a little bit out of the way. Joe set my drink in front of me, and I was able to reach it with no problem. The band was still setting up, and the room was starting to fill.

“Where do you usually drive your hay truck?” I asked.

“Lately I’ve been hauling a lot of hay out of Canada. It’s been so dry around here that the local hay hasn’t done that well. Canadian hay is a little more expensive, but the price of beef is up too. It’s about a wash for them. In the meantime, I’m on the road a lot.”

“Where do you sleep?”

“I have a sleeper in my truck with a queen size bed. I have stops that I regularly need to take to stay legal. You can only drive so many hours according to the law. I have to keep a log showing when and where I stopped and for how long.”

 “Sounds complicated,” I said. “Do you have a driving partner?”

“No, I’m usually by myself.”

“That must be pretty lonely.”

“You get used to it,” Joe said.

“I’ve never ridden in a big truck,” I commented.

“That can probably be arranged,” he replied.

“I think there’s an echo in here.”

The band started, and Joe asked me to dance. It was a fast one, and we were soon cutting up pretty well. I knew people were watching, but I’d had enough Scotch that it didn’t matter. The band started to play a slow one, and Joe held me by the waist. My arm stumps are so short that I couldn’t even put them on his shoulders, so I just let then hang at my sides. It was great to be held by him, and I wished that I could hold him too. My eyes started to glisten.

When the song was over, we sat down. Joe noticed the condition of my eyes and gently blotted each one, being careful not to smear my makeup.

“Want to tell me?” he asked.

“Just feeling sorry for myself,” I replied. “I really wanted to hold onto you out there on the dance floor, but I couldn’t. My little arm stumps are too short.”

“Things could have been worse for you,” he said. “Your arms could have gone all the way under that rail and popped them off right at the shoulder. Then you wouldn’t have any arm stumps at all.”

“I suppose you’re right. I just wanted to hug you.”

“Tell you what; it’s time for me to tend bar. Let’s stand up to go over there, but let me hug you before we go.”

We stood up, and he hugged me. I did my best to snuggle up to him the best that I could. He lightly kissed me on the forehead.

“Thanks, I needed that,” I said.

We walked over to the bar. Joe relieved Tom, and I sat down by Kelly on one of the bar stools.

“Thanks for making me come here tonight. I’m having a great time,” I said. “Joe’s a really neat guy. He’s attended to my every need without me asking. It’s almost like he has metal telepathy or something. I think I’m going to lose my dollar.”

“I see your nose is a little shiny; let’s go to the powder room,” Kelly said.

Kelly slid off of the stool, and I followed her down the hall to the restroom where I had removed my hooks. She used her hook to open the door this time and let me in first.

“We need to have a little talk about Joe before you get too emotionally involved,” Kelly said when she was sure the place was empty.

“Aw shit, he’s married,” I stammered.

“No, not that I know of.”

“Is he in some kind of trouble with the law or something?”

“No, not that I know of. I know that we’ve had a few drinks, but think carefully. Does the name Joe Daniels ring a bell?”

“Kind of, but I don’t know where. His face doesn’t look familiar.”

“Think about your accident report. Who was the driver of the truck you guys hit?”

“You mean . . . ,” I stammered as tears welled up in my eyes. “He was the truck driver? Oh no. Please say it isn’t so.”

“I’m afraid it is,” Kelly said. “I thought that you might want to know before you go jumping into bed with him.”

“I was thinking about doing just that. Booze makes me horny as hell, and I wanted him to take me to bed. Aw shit. I really like the guy. Damn it to hell anyway,” I was more upset than mad.

“If you really like the guy like you say you do, look beyond it and move on,” Kelly said sternly. “You know by the accident reports that your boyfriend who was driving the crotch rocket at over a hundred miles per hour was the one at fault.”

“I know, damn it. I don’t hold Joe responsible. Bob was the one that was driving recklessly,” I said, still crying. “If he’d seen us and waited, I wouldn’t be in this shape now. I saw him stop at the intersection.”

“The truth is he didn’t see you. I know Joe, and he would have waited if he’d seen you. If you’re going to want any kind of relationship, you two need to talk it out. Maybe tonight might be a good time when you’re a little tipsy and your guard is down.”

“You’re right, as usual,” I replied. “I do want to have a relationship with him.”

She took a tissue out of her purse and, after using both of her hooks to fold it, blotted my eyes. We talked for a while to calm me down. She used her hook to open the door as we left the restroom.

Joe was the only one behind the bar when we walked back into the ball room. Tom was sitting at the table Joe and I had been using. My drink was sitting on the end of the bar with the straw sticking out of it. I walked over to the bar and slid up on the bar stool. Joe wasn’t busy right then and walked to my end of the bar. He had a stern, almost frightened, look on his face.

“She told you, didn’t she?” he said.

“Yes, and we need to talk,” I replied. “Joe, I like you a lot, and we need to clear the air on this.”

“I know. I was working up the courage to tell you it was me driving that truck. I have nightmares regularly about the wreck. I wake up in a cold sweat with your screams ringing in my ears. When I get out of the truck, you’re lying there in a pool of blood and your hands and forearms are burning on the bed of the trailer.”

“I had no idea.”

“I tried to see you once in the hospital. I had mustered up all the courage I could, and when I stepped into your room, you were sleeping. I saw the bandages on your arms, and I lost it. I couldn’t stand to be in that room. The walls came in around me, and I had to get out of there.”

“I think I’m glad I was sleeping. I wasn’t ready for it,” I said. “I’d like to see the trailer that we hit sometime.”

“You can’t,” Joe replied. “The heat of the fire was so intense it weakened the frame on that side. I could have gotten some more steel and strengthened it. But instead, I took the cutting torch to it and sold the whole thing for scrap.”

Someone came up to the bar and ordered several drinks. Joe set to work making them for him. I enjoyed watching him work. I sipped on my drink. The Scotch and water mix was just the way I liked it, not too weak, not to strong, just right.

“So what do you think?” he asked when his customers were gone.

“That you don’t have two heads and are not an ogre like I had imagined. I’d like to get to know you a lot better. I don’t hold you responsible for what happened to me. It was Bob’s fault for the way he was driving the crotch rocket. I knew the dangers when I got on. I took a gamble and lost.”

“Ya, both of your arms,” he said, shaking his head. “If only I’d seen the motorcycle. I remember seeing a glimpse of something, but when I looked again, it was gone. I pulled out, and all of a sudden, there’s a crash and this big fireball in my rear view mirror.”

“My drink’s about empty.”

He took the glass and did a refill.

“I think we should dance some more tonight and see where it leads. Joe, I like you a lot.”

“Well Sam, I think you are pretty special too. My shift is up in five minutes, and I’d like to dance some more with you too.”

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Chapter 12.

“I’m going to talk to Tom and Kelly for a few minutes,” I said.

“There’s no one here now. I can carry your drink over to the table for you,” Joe offered.

I slid off my stool and led the way to the table. Joe followed with my drink. Tom slid out a chair for me as Joe set my drink on the table. About that time, several people walked up to the bar, and Joe left for his post.

“Well?” Kelly quizzed.

“It went well,” I replied. “He told me how sorry that he was and how the accident had affected him emotionally. He told me that he still has nightmares about the wreck and that my screams wake him up.”

“I know he took the accident pretty hard,” Tom observed. “He felt terrible about what happened and blamed himself for a long time. He was withdrawn and would hardly talk to anyone.”

“He told me that he even came to see me once when I was in the hospital. I was asleep, and he left once he saw the bandages on my stumps.”

“Wow,” Kelly responded. “I guess that explains the mystery flowers.”

“I’m glad I was asleep. With the state of mind I was in then, I would have lit into him and said something that I would have regretted now. I probably would have put the run on him, and I’d have never see him again.”

Tom asked me to dance. Kelly smiled and nodded that it was OK, and we got up to dance. It was a fast dance so that there was no body contact. We enjoyed ourselves, and when we got back to the table, Joe was sitting there talking to Kelly. His shift was over.

“So are you two talking about us?” I quizzed.

“No, we were talking about you,” Kelly replied.

“It was all good then?”

“In fact, it was. I was telling Joe how much progress you’ve made toward independent living since you’ve been out at the ranch.”

“She says that there are only a few things you can’t do with your hooks, and that you are now learning to do things without your hooks,” Joe said.

“He was also under the impression that he needed my permission to ask to drive you back out to the ranch. I told him that I wasn’t your mother and that you were free to do whatever you wanted.”

“Joe, they’re playing a slow one; why don’t you ask me to dance?”

He got up and led the way to the dance floor. He held me close when we danced. I felt like I was almost in a trance. We also talked about the evening plans. When the song was over, we went back to the table and sat down with Kelly and Tom.

“Joe, will you get a dollar out of my purse please?” I asked.

He gave me a strange look but did as he was asked. Once he had fished the dollar out, I had him give it to Kelly. She smiled as she accepted the bet payoff with her hook. Tom had a puzzled look on his face.

“I bet Sam that she wouldn’t be riding back to the ranch with us. I won,” Kelly said.

Tom looked at Joe and winked. Joe turned bright red.

“Joe, my drink is empty,” I said.

He got up and walked toward the bar. He looked back at me and smiled, which I returned with a mouthed kiss.

“Kelly, don’t wait up for me. He doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to make him take me to breakfast,” I said. “The house is all yours, for the night at least.”

“We’ll take it under advisement,” Kelly said.

“I have the weekend off,” Tom said with a big smile.

Kelly grinned back at him and gave him a long seductive wink. Joe came back with drinks for all of us. He sat down beside me and made sure that the glass and straw were properly positioned. I scooted my chair closer to him. Kelly gave him a smile and wink. He blushed again. Joe and I danced again, and while we were on the dance floor, I noticed Tom and Kelly going outside. Just as we were finishing the dance, Joe’s pager, as well as a lot of others in the room, went off in unison. The firefighters breathlessly all waited while the tones played out. It was like listening to surround sound as the dispatcher droned out an aid call for a possible overdose. Most of the firemen went back to what they were doing; only a few left the dance.

“Glad I’m not an EMT,” Joe said. “I hate aid calls. Especially car wrecks.”

“How about motorcycles plowing into hay trucks?” I quizzed.

“I’ve only been involved in one of those,” he said, looking at me and shaking his head. Tears formed in eyes. “By far the worst, most gut wrenching experience I’ve ever had.”

“It’s OK. It wasn’t your fault,” I said, giving him a little kiss on the cheek and wishing that I had arms that I could hold him and comfort him with.

“Thank you,” he said, hugging me. “You’ll never know how much your forgiveness means to me.”

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Chapter 13.

Joe and I finished our drinks and decided to leave. We went outside expecting to find Kelly. The parking lot was deserted, and Tom’s pickup was gone too.

“Shit, my hooks are in his outfit,” I said. “Now what the hell am I going to do?”

“Let’s drive over to the Fire Hall. His outfit is probably there,” Joe replied.

We walked over to his Jeep, and he helped me get in. He fastened my seatbelt and then got in the driver’s seat. Once he was belted in, we took off for the Fire Hall. When we got there, the place was completely deserted. Some outfits were parked outside, but Tom’s wasn’t one of them.

“He might have gone directly to the call. Do you remember the address?” Joe said.

“Somewhere up Chandler Road I think,” I replied.

“That could be a long way out. Do you want to try and find him?”

“The hell with it,” I replied. “It could be anywhere in the woods; we’d be wandering around all night. I don’t need my hooks that bad; I have you.”

“OK, what do you want to do then?”

“I want you take me to bed and make love to me,” I said boldly.

“What did you say?” Joe asked in amazement.

“I want you to take me to your place, and take me to bed and make mad passionate love,” I replied.

“You don’t want to go to my place. I live in a small travel trailer in the trailer park.”

“OK, the motel then. The room’s on me.”

“Are you sure you want to do that?” he quizzed.

“Absolutely. That’s exactly what I want to do.”

“But I just met you tonight. Aren’t we taking things a little fast?” he objected.

“Listen, I’ve had a few drinks, and I get horny when I drink. I haven’t been with a man in more than six months, and I am horny as hell anyway. Joe, I really like you a lot and want to have sex with you,” I said. “My life almost came to an end out on the road, and I know how mortal that I am. I want to go to bed with you, and that’s it.”

“I haven’t even kissed you yet,” he said.

“What are you waiting for?” I said, leaning toward him.

We kissed our first kiss. It was wonderfully passionate. The depth of emotion I felt even made me want him more. I wanted in the worst way to hold him close.

“Since you put it that way, I guess I don’t have an argument,” he said as he backed out of the parking lot and back toward Main Street. “I need to stop and pick up some protection.”

“Good idea. I’m not sure I want to become an armless mom. At least not yet anyway.”

He pulled into the grocery store and asked me if I wanted anything and if I would be all right by myself in the Jeep alone. When I let him know I would be fine, he gave me a quick kiss and went into the store. When he came out, he was carrying a large bag.

“I thought you were just going to get some condoms,” I said.

“I got us a little more to drink and some snacks as well as doughnuts for breakfast. Oh yes, I got condoms too,” he said as he started the Jeep and drove out onto Main Street again. Soon we were pulling into the motel. He pulled the Jeep a little past the door where the clerk couldn’t see me.

“Get the money out of my purse,” I said.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it,” he said, getting out of the Jeep before I could object any further.

He walked into the office and soon came back carrying a key. We pulled around the back to the unit on the far end of the building. He stopped and got out. When he’d released my seatbelt, he helped me out of the Jeep. He led the way and opened the door. He reached in and turned on the light switch, then stepped back so that I could go in first.

It was a typical older motel. It might have even been called an auto court at one time, but it had been completely refinished, including one king size bed. I walked around and looked at the modest but not shabby appointments. The room had a large bathroom and a large walk-in closet. Joe had to open the closet door because it stuck, and I couldn’t get it open with my toes. I had no problem working the bathroom door or faucets with my toes.

Joe closed the door to the outside, then laid his keys and pager on the top of the TV before we began kissing again. In the process of the very passionate kiss and heavy petting, he had my blouse unbuttoned as his hands explored my body. I did not object at all; in fact, it turned me on more. I only wished that I could have done a similar exploration, but lack of hands and my short arm stumps left me at a major disadvantage.

“Undress me now,” I whispered.

He undid the button on my leather skirt, and pulled my blouse out of the waistband. He had to tug at the closet door to get it open, then hung up my blouse on a hanger as well as his shirt that he had removed.

“You certainly are neat,” I said. “I would have thrown it on the floor.”

“Habit. It comes from living in a small trailer,” he said, taking his boots and pants off. “If you don’t put things away, the place is almost instantly a mess.”

He had only his Jockey shorts on when he turned back to me, and by the large bulge in them, I knew without a doubt I was about to be satisfied. I stepped out of my high heels as he walked toward me. He unzipped the zipper on my leather skirt, and it fell to the floor around my ankles. I stepped out of it, and our lips met again. The intense passion that the kiss, coupled with the way he held me close while a hand continued to explore my body, especially the area exposed when my skirt fell away, really turned me on.

“I am surprised that you aren’t wearing panties,” he said when our intense lip lock ended, and he began unfastening the front clasps of my bra, the style I had gone to with the advent of life with hooks.

“It was Kelly’s idea,” I said as he gathered up the remainder of my clothing and shoes. “I wouldn’t need assistance in the restroom being as I wasn’t wearing my hooks.”

“Good idea,” he said from the walk-in closet as he put my heels beside his boots and hung up my skirt beside the bra he had neatly draped over a hanger. “She’s a sharp lady.”

“And a good friend to me,” I said as he removed his shorts. “I don’t know what I would have done without her. As well as teaching me how live as a double arm amputee and to use my hooks, she’s also helped me to deal with this little problem of no hands and arms mentally. Her positive ‘can do’ attitude has rubbed off a lot.”

“I bet it’s really easy to get down on yourself,” he said as he forced the closet door closed and stood there eyeing me.

“It is. And she can snap me out of it with only a couple of words,” I said as he continued to examine me with his eyes. “Well, do I pass inspection?”

“Sam, you are beautiful,” he said. “Your arms are a little shorter than I had imagined. They don’t make it down to the height of your nipples, do they?”

“I had estimated about an inch shorter,” I said. “Now you see why I couldn’t even put them around your neck while we were dancing.”

He came over to where I was standing by the bed and, as he took me in his arms, said: “Are you sure that you want to do this? I wouldn’t want to foul up a start of a great relationship.”

“More sure than I’ve ever been in my life,” I replied as I felt his excitement against my body. “I want this to be a night to remember when we’re sitting on the front porch watching our grandchildren play in the front yard of our house with the white picket fence around it.”

“OK,” he said as he pulled back the covers and held them for me. “I feel the same way. I won’t ever forget this night.”

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Chapter 14.

The room was dark when I awoke with a violent urge to use the bathroom. I didn’t want to wake Joe, so I slipped quietly out of bed. I felt around with my feet, trying to find the bathroom. When I found the bathroom, I felt around the wall for the light switch. My boob found it before my arm stub did. I couldn’t work it with my arm stump, so after closing but not latching the door, I managed to turn the light on with my toes. I used my toes to lift the lid. The relief was wonderful, and as I sat there relieving myself, the memories of the extreme pleasure that I had experienced flooded back to me. I had known sexual pleasure before, but nothing like that. Wonderful wouldn’t even begin to describe how it was and how it still affected me.

Because my toe wiping skills were not developed, I waited for the last drop to drip away before I got up. I used my toes to press the flush lever and was about to turn off the light when I decided that I wanted to see Joe sleeping. Joe, who had provided me with such pleasure, would be still be in bed, and the light from the bathroom did not shine directly on him. I reached my foot around the door near the bottom and pulled it inward toward me slowly. I moved very quietly back into the area of the bed bathed in subdued light. I waited a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim light. I tried hard to see Joe, but I couldn’t. I walked over to the bed and checked the floor on his side. He was nowhere in the motel room. I was completely alone!

I looked around the room and thought of the closet. I stood on one foot and tried to turn the doorknob with my other foot. I could get it to turn a little but couldn’t make it budge. I lay down on my back and tried to use both feet to turn the knob on the sticking door. I tried several more times unsuccessfully and stood back up. I looked around the room a little more. His keys and his pager were gone from the top of the TV. I went to the window and peeked out a little to find that his Jeep was gone.

I stepped back from the window and lost it. The depth of my predicament hit me as I sat down on the edge of the bed. Here I was, all but completely armless; I didn’t know where my hooks were; I was completely nude; I couldn’t get at my clothes, and my new boyfriend had run off leaving me like that. The tears that had been running down my face turned into a torrent as I began to really bawl.

My sobs must have covered up the sound of a vehicle pulling in and the door being quietly unlocked. I looked up to see the door opening. I jumped and tried to scream, but nothing came out. I just stared as the gloved hand and dirty brown coat sleeve opened the door further. I wanted to run, but I was terrified and frozen in place.

I heaved a huge sigh of relief when he opened the door enough for me to see that it was Joe wearing a heavy brown coat. I jumped up and ran to him, and he caught me and held me.

“What’s the matter?” he asked when he’d realized been crying.

I stepped back from his grasp and said: “I woke up and you were gone. I suddenly realized how helpless I was and that I couldn’t even get to my clothes in the closet and didn’t know where you were and I was worried that you left me and I didn’t know what I was going to do.”

“Whoa. Calm down. It’s all right,” he said. “There was a fire call for a structure fire. I went to the fire and drove the tanker like I always do. The pager made a lot of noise, and I had the light turned on. I thought you probably heard it. Did you find my note?”

“No.”

“I left it right here on the desk beside the bag of goodies and the phone,” he said, shutting the door and walking over to the desk and picking up a little note pad by the phone. “It says, ‘Gone to Fire. Be back soon.’ ”

“Oh my God. I’m so embarrassed,” I said, sitting down on the bed. “I sleep really soundly, especially when I have several drinks, and I didn’t hear a thing. When I woke up to go to the bathroom and found you were gone, I panicked big time. I never once thought about you going to a fire. Oh, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say.”

“How about, ‘get out of those smelly bunkers and take a shower? It’s not daylight yet, and I still want you baby.’ ”

“I’d offer to help, but I’m not much good at washing backs.”

“Yes, but you sure are good at other things,” he said as he peeled off his bunker gear and headed for the shower. “Wait right there in bed. I’ll be right back.”

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Chapter 15.

The room was lighter, and Joe was curled up at my back. His hand rested on my thigh. I rolled over and kissed him just as he started to stir.

“Good morning,” I whispered.

“Good morning,” he whispered back as his eyes fluttered slowly open.

“How’d you sleep?”

“Sleeping next to you was the most wonderful night’s sleep I’ve ever experienced. I think ‘heavenly’ would be an accurate description. How about you?”

“Heavenly works for me too,” I said. “I could do this more often. How about again tonight?”

“I’d love to, but I’ve got to go get a load of hay. I’ll be leaving about noon and spending the night in Alberta somewhere.”

“So. Didn’t you say you had a queen-sized sleeper in your truck?”

“Yes,” he said hesitantly.

“You mean you don’t want me to go? I suppose you have a girlfriend in Canada somewhere who you’re going to see.”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend in Canada or anyplace else as far as that goes.”

“What am I, chopped liver? Sure, give a girl one good night and toss her out in the street and say good luck finding your arms or hooks or whatever you call those things.”

“That’s not what I meant. Don’t try to start a fight when I’m still half asleep.”

“Well kiss me again and say, ‘Sam, I want you to go with me to Canada, in my truck, and sleep with me in the sleeper compartment, in the big queen-sized bed.’ ”

He gave me an extremely passionate kiss, then smiled at me a silly little smile and said, “Sam, I want you to go with me to Canada, in my truck, and sleep with me in the sleeper compartment, in the big queen-sized bed.”

“Hey, you do that pretty good. Let me check my appointment calendar,” I said. “Oh yes, it says right here, ‘you are free for as long as you want. You have no pending appointments, commitments, or employment.’ ”

“Is that another way of saying that you want to go, but I have to support you?”

“Kinda, I guess.”

“Kinda want to go or kinda support you?”

“Really want to go, worry about support later. I have a little cash stashed away.”

“Hot damn,” he said, sitting straight up in bed. “I can’t believe this is happening to me.”

“I’d pinch you, but I don’t have any fingers.”

“Ya, but I know where your hooks are. They’re out at Kelly’s ranch. They found them in the back of Tom’s outfit and put ’em in your room. He said they’d put them there when he came in for the structure fire.”

“So Kelly got lucky too last night?”

“More than lucky. You’ll see when we get out there,” he said, getting out of bed. “Why don’t I slip on some pants and get us some coffee to go with the donuts? Then we can plan out our day.”

“Sounds like a plan. I get the bathroom first.”

I slipped out of bed and went into the bathroom. He quickly dressed and headed out the door. When I finished, I found my purse sitting on the desk and, with my teeth, moved it to the bed. Again with my teeth, I managed to fish my panties out and get them on the bed. I sat down on the bed and got one foot through the leg hole and pulled the pantie almost up to my knee with the toes on the other foot. I stuck my other foot through the other leg hole and managed to get that up past my knee. From then on, it was sliding on the bed and finishing off by sliding up and down on the wall.

I was sitting cross-legged on the bed when Joe walked back in carrying two cups of coffee and a Sunday paper under his arm. He set the coffees down on the TV and laid the paper on the bed.

“I want to check on the weather before we take off,” he said.

“Any news?”

He opened the box of doughnuts and held one out so that I could take an oversize bite. I chewed and got it down, and in the meantime, he had taken the lid off of the coffees. He took a sip out of his and held mine so that I could take a small sip. It was still quite warm, not scalding, but uncomfortable. He gave me another bite of doughnut. One more bite, and it would be gone. I chewed and had a little more coffee. He fed me the last of my doughnut, then gave me another sip of coffee.

I flipped the paper with my foot so that it was right side up. The headline read LOCAL POWERBALL WINNER. I went on to quickly scan the story that said according to their computer there was only one winner of the fifty million and that the ticket had been sold in Billings.

“Joe, could you fish the lotto ticket out of my purse please. I want to check these numbers.”

He fished the ticket out of my purse, and I had him lay it next to the winning numbers in the paper. I read and compared the numbers closely.

“Joe, would your check these numbers for me please?”

He studied the ticket and the numbers in the paper for a minute, then calmly said, “And just how do you plan on spending your fifty million dollars?”

I leaned over and kissed him, and he held me and kissed me back.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe it. We’ve won fifty million dollars.”

“You’ve won fifty million dollars.”

“Hey, I’ve found you, and you’re not getting away. It will be we,” I said.

He held me tight and kissed me some more. I started to cry—partially because I was happy but mostly because I wanted so badly to put my almost nonexistent arms around him.

He wiped my tears and said: “I think we should pack up and get your ticket someplace for safe keeping. That thing is like having fifty million in cash in your hand.”

“Put it in the zipper compartment of my purse,” I asked. “I just can’t believe it.”

“I’m very, very happy for you,” he said as he put the ticket in the pocket of my purse and zipped it closed.

“Be happy for us,” I said. “Unless you don’t want me that is.”

“Oh, I want you all right. The way I felt this morning when I woke up, I knew you were the right person for me and that I really want our relationship to build solidly. The money has nothing to do with it unless our personalities change because of it. I’d love you if neither one of us had a red cent. All the money is going to do is buy creature comforts. It can’t buy love from deep down inside. That deep down inside love is what I want to build.”

“Oh Joe, I want this to work out for us so badly. When I woke up and you were gone this morning, I was so afraid that you had rejected me and left me all alone. Not having you near me when I expected it had me more scared than the prospect of just being locked in the room until the maid came. Joe, I’ve found you, and I’ll do whatever it takes to not lose you and to make that deep down love build.”

“I think it will. I know I really want it to. Sam, you are the most wonderful person I’ve ever met, and I’m so excited that you want to be with me.”

“I sure do share that excitement,” I replied. “What say you get me dressed, and we can blow this place? Tonight we stay in your sleeper.”

“I don’t know if it is big enough to hold both of us all the time,” he joked.

“Well hell, we’ll buy a really big one then,” I joked back. “Better yet, we could buy one of those big cargo planes and fly the hay down here.”

“Flying hay into Montana is not a great idea,” he said, shaking his head.

He got me dressed again, and Joe dressed himself in the clothes he wore to the dance. The last thing he did before we left the room was to put my purse strap over my head and around my neck on the left side. He loaded his bunker gear in the back of the Jeep and helped me to get in. Once he had my seatbelt fastened, he got in and drove over to the lobby. He checked us out and got back in the Jeep. Once he was belted in, we headed straight for Kelly’s ranch.

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Chapter 16.

Tom’s pickup was there when we got to Kelly’s ranch house, and we parked beside it. Joe unbelted me, and we went into the house. The two of them were sitting at the kitchen table.

“What happened to you two last night? We went outside, and you were gone,” I said.

“The aid call came as we were sitting in Tom’s outfit having a little question and answer session, so we went right to the call,” Kelly said. “When we got back, you were gone.”

“What do you mean ‘question and answer session’?” I asked.

“You know like when somebody asks you to marry him and you say yes!” Kelly said while Tom sat there beaming.

Kelly slipped the moccasin off of her left foot and put it on the table. On her fourth toe was a gold ring with a small diamond inset into it.

“Oh Kelly, it’s beautiful,” I exclaimed.

“I would have gotten her a larger diamond but it would have bulged out of her shoe,” Tom said, still beaming and proud of himself.

“It’s the thought and meaning behind the ring that counts, not the size of the diamond that counts,” I said.

“I congratulated you in the middle of the night, but congratulations again,” Joe said as he shook Tom’s hand.

“And just what kind of mischief are you two up to?” Kelly said with a smirk kind of smile on her face. “Oh by the way, your hooks are on your bed. We found them in the back of Tom’s outfit last night when we got home.”

“Thanks. Joe said they were there. What kind of mischief were we up to?” I repeated. “Well, let me see. Last night, I met my soul mate. We spent the night in town and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves . . .”

“I thought you were going to thoroughly enjoy yourself in the middle of the dance floor the way you were acting,” Kelly interrupted.

“Joe scared the hell out of me when I woke up and he had gone to the fire without me knowing it. Joe is going to take me to Canada with him this afternoon, and we’re going to sleep in his sleeper in the big truck. Joe brought me coffee and doughnuts in bed while we read the paper. Oh by the way, have you read the paper this morning?”

“No, I haven’t. Why?” Kelly asked.

“Tom, could you grab the paper? I saw it on the coffee table in the living room,” I said. “I’d get it, but somebody drove off with my hooks last night.”

“You should take care of your own damn stuff,” Tom joked as he went to get the paper.

He brought it back and laid it on the table. It was on the wrong side, and I had him turn it exposing the headline. Kelly looked at me with almost a look of horror on her face when she read the headline.

“I was struck by lightning,” I said, turning so that Joe could get the ticket out of my zippered purse pocket.

He held the ticket out and Kelly grasped it with her right hook and placed it next to the published numbers. She read them both, looked up at me, and then read them again. She let out a scream and jumped up out of her chair. She put her prosthetic arms around me and gave me a hug.

“Oh my goodness, I don’t know what to say,” she said.

“How about congratulations, and how much do I get?” I replied.

“Well congratulations anyway,” Kelly said. “I don’t get any; it’s all yours.”

“Baloney,” I said. “You and I need to sit down and talk about this. In fact, let’s go into my room, and we can talk while you help me with my arms. We’ll be right back guys.”

I led Kelly into the bedroom, and I used my foot on the door so that it latched. She undid my skirt, and I kicked it off as well as my heels. She started undoing my blouse.

“OK. Here’s the deal. Now we have enough money so that we don’t need that money that we stashed. I say we leave it right where it is and forget about it. Let the snakes have it,” I said. “You were willing to split with me on that caper, and I want to split with you. The only thing I did was buy the dumb ticket. You were the one that drove me there; you were the one whose gas we were using. It’s only fair.”

“But it’s so much money,” she objected as she took off my blouse and picked up my stump socks.

“That’s my point completely. It’s so much more money than I need. I want you to share in my good fortune. After all you’ve done for me in giving me my life back, it’s the least I can do.”

“Let me think about it,” Kelly said, spreading my arms out in the bed and straightening out the harness.

After she had the band that tied the two stump socks straightened, I lay down on the bed and put my arm stumps in the upper arm sockets. When I had completely wiggled my way into them and Kelly had put my the shoulder straps in front, I sat up on the bed and then got on my feet. I shrugged to unlock the elbows and put my hooks through their paces. Everything worked fine.

“Whatever we do, I’m adamant that we not move that money that’s stashed,” I said forcefully. “Fifty million at six percent is three million per year without even thinking about compounding interest. We don’t need the risk now.”

“You’re right, when you put it like that. Besides, with Tom in the picture now, I was already considering just leaving it. We won’t touch it,” Kelly said.

“Thanks. I’d hate to have to collect those checks from prison,” I replied. “Can you help me pack a bag?”

“Sure, what are your plans?” she said as she opened one of my drawers and I got a small duffel out of my closet.

“Well, I’m going to need your help,” I said as I put some of my clothes in my bag. “Joe’s going to Canada for a load of hay, and I’m going with him. I don’t want to let him out of my sight. I’d like to leave the ticket with you for safe keeping while we’re out running around. We should be back on Wednesday, and if I could further impose on you, I’d like you to line me up with a good financial advisor. Maybe your lawyer buddy in Billings could give us a recommendation and line us up with an appointment on Thursday. Then, hopefully, we should be ready to turn the ticket in on Friday.”

“That sounds like a good plan, and of course I’ll help you set it up,” she replied.

She helped me put my clothes on and I finished packing. I carried my bag as we walked back into the living room where the two guys were waiting.

“It looks like you’re ready to go,” Joe said.

“Hey, we’ve got hay to haul,” I replied. “Let’s get cracking.”

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END