Chapter 11

Once Julie worked out to her own satisfaction that it was the onset of menopause that was causing he problems with her period, and not something more serious, like cancer, etc., she relaxed and resumed having sex with Jeff. This made him feel a lot better because he felt sort of abandoned while Julie was enduring her self-imposed funk. Jeff had never criticized her, because he could see that she was in mental and emotional agony, but he sure was happy to see Julie return to her old self. He was also sure that she was happier because she had gotten her way on the subject of him fucking his daughters. The best way to win a woman's heart was to let her win an argument!

Mary was really involved with Jeff, Jr. so she never returned to full-time hunting. Tricia and Sue took over that "chore" with Jeff and they formed a well-functioning team of hunters. They never failed to return from a hunt without something for the larder, and they often returned with delicacies like caterpillar.

Alice was hoping that Tricia would hurry up and get pregnant so that she could join the team of hunters. If the truth be known, she was bored with hanging around home and doing "girl-stuff" like cleaning and cooking and taking care of the kids. She was already quite skilled with the bow and the crossbow, so she was in a hurry to show off her talent.

Julie recognized how bored and unhappy Alice was, so she suggested to Jeff that he take Alice hunting just to let her blow off some steam. Shortly thereafter, Alice was officially presented with her bow and asked to join the hunters. She was ecstatic and couldn't sleep the night before her first hunting expedition.

This trip, they were specifically going after a giant horned beetle. They had not killed one yet, but Jeff had seen one roaming around the area, so he wanted to try it out. None of the beetles that Jeff knew of in the 21^st Century seemed to be aggressive, so he thought that this would be a good time to break Alice in. He knew approximately where to find the beetle, so that was where they headed.

There was a thick growth of brush they had to break through, and the going was really tough. They were having a lot of trouble making progress, so Jeff was pulling the wagon, and all three girls were pushing it. They were at the edge of a clearing, and Jeff turned to tell the girls to back off, but he was just a tiny bit late. The wagon broke through the last of the brush, and jumped forward because the girls were not expecting the sudden release. The wagon smashed into Jeff just as he stepped into a small trench—the result was a broken leg. The simple accident turned into a major emergency when the break turned out to be a compound fracture. Blood was flowing out too fast to be disregarded.

Julie had made sure that the girls all had basic training in first aid, and it was a good thing because this was a time when they really needed it. The first thing they had to do was to get a tourniquet on the leg before Jeff lost too much blood. Alice snatched off her bra and used that for a tourniquet. Once they had the blood stopped, they considered how they were going to handle the break, itself. There was no question that the break had to be set, the problem was just how to do it.

Everybody, including Jeff, knew that setting the break was going to hurt like hell, but there was no alternative. The only real question was who was going to do the setting. Tricia was the strongest of the three girls, so she was volunteered to do the pulling of the leg back into place. Sue would guide the bones into place, and Alice would bind the splints. She commandeered the bras from the other two girls to use for the binding, and she found a couple of sticks to use for the splints.

Jeff worked the tourniquet. This gave him something to think about besides the excruciating pain in his lower leg. Once they were ready, Tricia pulled, Sue guided, and Alice tied, all while Jeff groaned and struggled not to scream from the pain. Finally, they had the bone set. The job was done as well as a professional could do it, though a professional might have done the job with less pain to the victim ... er ... patient.

They waited for as long as they dared to try to give the bleeding a chance to stop without the tourniquet. However, for now, it looked like the tourniquet was still necessary. Oh, well, they had to start back if they were going to get home before dark. The girls moved the wagon as close to Jeff as they could and removed the tailgate. With a lot of grunting from the girls and groaning from Jeff, they got him loaded into the wagon and the tailgate replaced. At last, they were ready to move.

Jeff was in considerable pain, and there was nothing that they could do about it. At one point, Jeff did ask, "Can you please not hit every bump and hole in the trail? I would appreciate it if you would skip hitting a few of them." This was just before they hit a really bad one and Jeff fainted from the pain. Under the circumstances, they all were probably better off for this, since they could not help bouncing Jeff around a lot, and he could not feel it if he was unconscious.

They reached home just as it was getting dark. Julie and Mary came rushing out of the house when they did not see Jeff returning with the hunting party. "Where is Jeff?" was the question they both asked, and Tricia answered by pointing to the wagon. Julie and Mary looked in and saw the splint, the tourniquet, and the blood. Immediately, Julie called to the house for Sarah to bring the stretcher.

It was a real struggle, but they got Jeff to a bed before he woke up. This time, when they loosened the tourniquet, there was no massive blood flow, so they removed it completely. Julie examined the splinted break and pronounced it to be as good as anybody could have done. The girls relaxed a little bit at this praise; they had feared that they might have done something wrong, but Julie assured them that they had done all of the proper and correct things.

About this time, Jeff woke up and complained immediately that he needed to piss. At least he had a built-in hose, so he was not near the problem that a female would have been. They came up with a small bag for him to piss into, and Jeff sighed with relief.

They had put Jeff into a single bed, since he did not need to share a bed with anybody who might accidentally kick his broken leg. He was unhappy about this, but no more unhappy than his normal bed partners. Julie declared that they would just have to get used to the strain, because it would probably be a couple of months before Jeff could share a bed with anybody.

Once Jeff was squared away, everybody ate supper, but Jeff was fed only broth because neither Jeff nor anybody else wanted him using a bedpan for the next month unless he absolutely had to. After supper, Jeff asked to talk privately with the three girls who had been his hunting partners. The girls were very apprehensive, because they feared that they were going to get a dressing-down for their part in the accident.

To their great surprise, Jeff opened the discussion with, "I know that my broken leg was an accident that was nobody's fault, and I don't want any of you blaming yourselves for what happened. I think you did an outstanding job in taking care of me under very difficult circumstances, and I want you to know how much I appreciate what you all did. Thank you."

This little speech resulted in a group hug that was moderated by efforts not to cause him further pain on his leg. They talked for a few more minutes about how it was now their responsibility to bring in the meat for the family. Jeff was available for whatever advice they might ask for, but he had no intention of second guessing them. He did ask Tricia to take over the leadership of the group simply because she had the most experience, but she could pass that responsibility along to someone else if she felt so inclined.

He suggested that they discuss the leadership situation among themselves before they went on their next hunt. "I must warn you that hunting to feed your family is not a social event. Somebody has to be in charge, and the others must obey orders, unless the orders put one of the hunters in unnecessary danger. Think about that. I know that you have always followed my orders, but it was natural for you to take orders from you father, but now you will be taking orders from a peer. That's not exactly the same thing."