Tears rolled down Deborah's cheeks and whimpering with the pain as each step moved her slowly forward, she cursed Brian Goddard, her domineering boyfriend who'd insisted she wore the new and expensive walking boots he'd bought a few weeks earlier, the emphasis being on the amount he'd paid for them rather than her comfort. Her plans to start breaking them in on the two previous weekends were foiled by inclement weather and a personal commitment and now with the hot, dry July day and the rough going, the hard leather gnawed relentlessly at her soles, heels and ankles and with her feet swollen with the heat and the boots being slightly tight, her toes rubbed against each other causing blisters between them. "I bet inside the boots my feet are a mass of raw blisters but I daren't take them off because I won't be able to get them on again and if I wear my thin slippers, my only other footwear, the sharp stones will quickly shred them," she reasoned. Slowly plodding along the rough track, carefully and delicately putting each foot down and hoping she'd soon arrive at a road where, if luck favoured her, she might get a lift. "Sod you Brian, I'd have been fine had I worn my old hiking boots, now I'm suffering worse than on any previous walks. I suppose you'll be back again soon to chivvy me to walk faster. I wish I could." She cursed him bitterly.

"Hi there, you having foot problems? Where are you going?" A lightly clad, late teenage girl wearing large sunglasses and a broad-rimmed hat caught up with her.

Glad of an excuse to rest Deborah slipped the heavy rucksack off her back and sat on it. "I'm Susan, Susan Shepherd, Sue to my friends," the girl volunteered, holding out her hand, "Can I help you?" They exchanged pleasantries and Deborah explained the situation and learned that Sarah, her brother and parents had a cottage about three miles away and she'd been out for an afternoon ramble. "You're not going to get far with feet in the state they are and that weight on your back, swap rucksacks with me, mine only has a waterproof, although with this hot weather I don't know why I brought it, and a couple of bottles of water. Would you like one?" She offered Deb a bottle and they discussed the problems she'd have for the rest of the week if she missed staying in the Youth Hostel that night.

"I can manage," Deb protested, but Susan insisted on taking the rucksack with all the gear needed for a fortnight's walking holiday.

Even with the lighter weight, after the rest, to Deb every step seemed even more painful and progress pitifully slow, yet Sue kept with her and chatted non-stop although the replies she received were minimal. Brian appeared at a junction of the path. "At last," he spat, I've walked back along this track for two miles and have been here at least half an hour waiting for you to turn up. At this rate we'll be lucky to arrive at the hostel before dinner. Stop making so much fuss over a little blister. Is she coming too?" He nodded at Susan,

Although her conversation with Deb had warned her of his dictatorial attitude, Susan's blood boiled. "You chauvinistic pig!" she retorted vehemently, "Can't you see she's in no fit state to walk anywhere? Aren't you a little concerned over her welfare? Do you really believe she's putting on an act to slow you down? Get real man! And, no, she's not going to the hostel, she coming home with me. Get on your way, bully-boy, I'll take care of her seeing that you can't or won't."

Susan's attack threw Brian off balance; he wasn't used to women questioning his authority. "Yes, Brian, you go on alone, I cannot walk much further and I'll be fine with Susan," Deb added quietly. In the short time she'd known Susan she felt she could trust her and in any case after his attitude to her suffering, she'd decided to terminate her relationship with Brian.

"Oh, so you want a bit of lesbian sex now, perhaps you'll do better in her bed than you did in mine." Brian spitefully spat out the words; "Just don't come running back to me when you tire of it. I'll collect my stuff when I return. This is going to be a poor holiday for me if I have to carry you for most of the way." He turned his back and headed for the hostel at a brisk pace.

"Did you really mean that I could stay with you? I'm not sure if I can walk the three miles to your cottage. And I'm not a lesbian."

"Neither am I." Holding up a mobile phone Sue exclaimed, "It's time to bring in the cavalry." Speed dialling a number she spoke "Hi Mike, it's me. Can you pick me up at the gate that leads to Hobson's Meadow?"

"What a little walk worn you out?" Deb overheard the reply.

"No but I've picked up a girlfriend for you. She cannot walk. Feet badly blistered so you'll have some repair work to do before you can take her out." They tormented each other in a friendly way for a short while until he said he would be there in ten minutes.

Suddenly Deb had second thoughts and wondered if she did the right thing in accepting their hospitality. Both Susan and Mike sounded friendly enough but what if it was a facade? Did she really expect him to be my boyfriend? However, she couldn't see any other alternative and hoped it would all work out for the best.

A short cut across a field brought them to a minor road and they'd hardly settled down on the verge when the car arrived. "This is my old brother, Michael, Mike," Sue introduced, "Mike this is Deborah Pyle, Deb."

Mike, a rather ordinary twenty-three-year-old boy, three years younger than Deb, smiled and shook her hand, "They could be sisters," he thought, "Deb's a little taller but she's almost as slim and they both have similar dark hair."

"How bad are your feet?" he enquired and on learning she had difficulty in walking, suggested, "If I were you I'd unlace the boots a little for now but keep them on until we get in the house and can bathe the blisters. You won't have to walk far after that." Nodding her agreement she wormed her way into the front seat and on the short journey briefly explained her original holiday plans were to do a circular walk in the hills, staying at hostels and B & B's and averaging about 15 miles each day.

"From what I've seen of your walking, you won't do one a day for a little while." Sue remarked.

In the kitchen, with Susan supervising and commenting on what he should do, Mike produced a bowl of warm water and very carefully removed the offending boots but even with all his care, Deb cried out with the pain when the leather scraped the still unseen wounds. The amount of blood that had seeped through her socks caused them considerable concern especially as it had dried in many places causing the woollen material to stick to the skin, or what was left of it. "We'll need to soak your feet with the socks on until they are free enough to remove without tearing the underlying raw flesh. Do you have a pair of shorts or a skirt in your rucksack because your jeans are too tight to roll up out of the way?" Mike asked.

"Sorry, no, I only packed spare jeans." Susan volunteered to loan her a pair and fortunately they weren't that different in size and found a baggy pair that would do. Mike didn't leave the room but turned away while Sue helped replace the jeans with shorts. Although no one remarked on what mess they would find under the socks, all realised from the amount of blood still oozing through the wool, the skin would be raw with open lesions. They were not wrong.

"I'm taking you to the hospital," Mike announced when he'd cleaned the feet as best he could and wrapped tea towels around them to keep them clean, "This is beyond a home first-aid job and they'll probably give you an injection against all sorts of nasty bugs and better pills than we have to ease the pain. How do you feel about that?"

"At least he asked my opinion, which is more than Brian would have done," Deborah compared Mike's attitude to that of her boyfriend or, now, ex boyfriend. She had to agree.

"I'd better stay behind and prepare a meal for our parents when they return and for when you two come back from the hospital, with luck you should get back before midnight if there's not a long wait in A & E," Sue stated causing Deb to wonder again if Mike's sister really intended for her to be his girlfriend and was staying behind for them to get to know each other better. Mike wheeled her on an office type chair, through the house and easily carried her to the car. Again she noted the difference in his attitude to Brian's and had to admit, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. At least by then and not having to stand on them, much of the severest pain had gone but both feet still hurt and hurt badly.

At A & E, Mike found a wheelchair and, after only an hour's wait, the doctor sprayed a salve on and lightly dressed the feet. "I don't know how you managed to walk a single step with feet in that state," he commented, "As far as you can, keep off them and leave them exposed to the air for the wounds to dry up. Spray them twice a day. They'll scab over in a day or two but you won't walk on them properly for a fortnight at least." He prescribed painkillers and antibiotics and a nurse gave her an anti-tetanus injection. Mike remained by her side the whole time and held her hand.

Mark and Sylvia Shepherd, the parents, greeted her kindly and almost immediately treated her like one of the family and they expressed their horror at the state of her feet. "Stay as long as you want, Deb. Certainly you cannot leave for a week or so until those raw places have healed and you can stand without discomfort," Mark offered. A wheelchair had appeared while they were away, "It belonged to old Mrs. Renshaw who lived a few houses along the valley, but she died some time ago. The family kept the chair just in case someone needed it," Mark told her.

Arriving back after the family had finished their meal and Sue had gone to visit a friend, Mike and Deb ate alone in the kitchen and after washing the dishes, Sylvia came in and gave Deb a further reason to wonder if this seemingly impossible scenario had somehow been pre-arranged. "I hope you aren't prudish and won't be too upset over this but the only bed free is one in Mike's room. I could ask him and Susan to swap rooms but that would mean a lot of extra work and Mike seems to be the one who is looking after you. You won't have to sleep with him in his bed and I know my son well enough to know he won't rape you, so I hope you won't mind at least giving it a try for a couple of days."

"No, I'm not a prude and if he tries anything that affects my poor feet the whole house will hear my screams," Deb replied with a smile. "What have I got to lose? She asked herself, "I'm not a virgin by any means and on Brian's insistence, I've slept with him on a number of weekends and I had a good number of other boys during my college years so why be adverse to sharing Mike's room, or even his bed, at least in a few days when my feet have healed a little." Sylvia gave her a hug when she agreed to share and reiterated that she knew her son well enough to know that she wouldn't be raped.

Mike had started to clear the bed of his belongings and, when Deb wheeled herself into the room to unpack, stopped to give her a hug and a kiss and then opened her rucksack. Not being able to stand, amidst much laughter and banter, Mike hung her clothes on hangers or placed them in a hastily cleared drawer and ostentatiously placed her contraceptive pills on the bedside table.

When much later Susan brought in a plastic female urine bottle, more good-natured teasing followed. "I had it when I broke my leg some years ago," she said, "But I didn't have a bedpan so you'll have to get Mike to lift you on and off the loo. The bottle is handy if you don't want to get out of bed or the chair." Deb quickly began to see the advantages and disadvantages of not being able to stand and guessed it wouldn't be long before Mike would see her wholly or partially naked. "Will he like what he sees? I'm not a glamour girl but I'm reasonably attractive, slim, with shoulder length dark brown hair, a round face and moderately sized tits. I wonder if I will see him naked too? I wonder what his prick is like? How big is it? My experience is limited but I know Brian's is on the small side but not unduly so. Will Mike's be bigger? After his hospitality and kindness, I know I can't refuse him if he wants sex. Probably I'll want it too. No, I'm not a whore but I enjoy sex with the right partner and already I have an empathy with Mike so I'll just let things happen as they will."