“Fighting a bear,” Steve rolling his eyes as he uses a curved sewing needle and the dental floss in Jackson’s first aid kit in the back pack. Sighing as apart from the floss, the only other items in the kit were a few band-aides and alcohol wipe and some gauze.
“Piss poor medical kit to boot,” Steve snorting as he manages to keep the stitches small despite the size of the needle and how thick the floss was.
“Sorry but the metzenbaum scissors and surgical suture wasn’t available at CVS,” Josephine snapping back; wincing as the needle pokes through her skin, she ended up cracking open the bottle bourbon to help numb the pain somewhat with a few stiff drinks. Steve naturally grabbed the bottle and used the alcohol to help sterilize the needle and thread, pouring some of the rot gut on the wound to help clean it. “Plus you are the one with access to the hospital pharmacy since you are a paramedic,” the nakota centaur mare adding; “don’t you have a first aid kit?”
“Yeah,” Steve finalizing the final stitch to Josephine’s wound and rolling his eyes in embarrassment. “But its back in the campsite at the grand canyon.”
“And you’re the one making a smart ass crack at my kit,” Josephine getting up on her hooves; flexing her arm as she examines Steve’s work. True to the Percheron Centaur’s words, the wound will scar; but at least it won’t get infected.
“I suppose I shouldn't bother to warn you to take it easy,” Steve putting away the meager medical supplies he had and had to scrounge; keeping the whiskey away from Josephine as it was the only item apart from boiling water to sterilize and clean his equipment.
“It’s not as if we have the luxury of taking it easy now do we,” Josephine watching as both Malcolm and Zack are standing at a distance; the two colts wondering if their tossing a football about is what caused the bear to come near the village.
“You have a point,” Steve getting up on his hooves; freshly shooed after breakfast. He had his taken care by Fred as Helios was busy shooing his mate Aiko. “Just don’t go looking to fight another bear.”
“If I do,” Josephine making her first smile since arriving and becoming a centaur mare; “I’ll be better armed then with a flare gun and a switch blade.”
Malcolm, the Caspian centaur and Zack, an Old English Black soon trotted beside the former deputy now a centaur mare. The two colts were eager to get a look at the mare’s stiches.
“Will it leave a scar,” Zack being the first to speak; unsure if the former deputy will snap at them, due to being gender bent by Epona for brandishing a weapon and calling the goddess a rude name in her church.
“Better a scar than a bloody a stump,” Josephine answering; heading back to the barn to continue to help build the fence. “Why don’t you two go see what the other foals are doing.”
“We were kind of hoping you would toss the football with us,” Malcom chiming in; “its stopped raining.”
“See if you can get the fillies interested in football,” Josephine looking at the two; “in few years, you are going to be looking at them as potential mates. Until then,” the mare showing genuine affection; “show them you can be more than just immature boys. We can toss the ball later after dinner.”
Jackson watches as the two colts gallop off towards the mill; seeing it functioning as the water wheel slowly spins, Josephine thinks that the grain that the millstone is grinding could be fresh bread come the next morning. “Add some freshly churned butter with fresh baked bread,” Josephine speaking to herself; “and then we have something.”
Arriving back to the pasture to see both Ben and Marcus struggling to drag the dead bear out and to the kitchen, she tries to approach and help only to be stopped by a few of the Centaur mares. While she didn’t get all of their names; Josephine was soon surprised to be getting hugged by them as they showed gratitude at how fast she was to protect a foal in danger.
“I just reacted to protect Malcolm,” Josephine getting uncomfortable with the one centaur mare named Daisy really putting the squeeze on her. Feeling her large breasts pressing up on hers as the mare starts getting teary eyed; Josephine did her best to be comforting despite wanting to extricate herself from what is becoming an awkward situation for her.
“Alright herd sisters,” Amanda approaching the group; “let her go for the time being. You can all gather around Josephine at dinner time. Let’s all head back to work in the meantime. Josephine,” Amanda beckoning the Nakota mare; “follow me will you.”
Before Josephine could answer, the Nonius centaur mare was already kicking into a full gallop and already running towards a hill that boarders the far end of the pasture. Still getting use to walking on hooves, Josephine’s gallop wasn’t as spontaneous as Amanda’s; still she managed to eventually catch up once she gotten use to running on hooves and was soon following the head mare as she headed over the hill and towards what Josephine could assume was an apple orchard.
Amanda soon slowed down as they reached the edge of the orchard and was soon picking some apples off of the tree and tossing one to the Nakota.
“First,” Amanda speaking as she bit into the fruit; “you’re not in trouble. None of us knew a bear was in the area. As Wendy and Midnight are currently hunting,” Amanda watching Josephine biting into the apple; noticing her wince as it may not have been ripe; “we can only guess that it followed one of them hoping to scavenge an easy meal. I’ll have them keep an eye out for possible signs of more or other predators.”
“And the other thing,” Josephine taking a second bite and wincing a second time as the fruit was still bitter tasting.
“I want to know how you are adjusting,” Amanda asking; “it’s just us mares, no one else is here to eavesdrop.”
“Where do I begin,” the former deputy sighing; “the wild mood swings; how sensitive my body reacts to touch; the way I feel with the opposite sex.”
“I suppose that is fair,” Amanda nodding; “you weren’t born female and thus don’t have experience riding the estrogen dragon as the rest of us. Best advice I can give you on that is to listen to your gut.”
“Is that the secret to femininity,” Josephine finishing the tart apple and tossing the core away; “woman’s intuition?”
“That and a support group of fellow girls who want to help you,” Amanda placing a hand on the mare’s shoulders; “why don’t you help me pick some apples for tonight’s dinner. We can talk more about your moonshine still and some advice on dealing with your heart going boom boom boom every time you set eyes on that Russian Don who is smitten with you while we work.”
“The alcohol is more than just getting drunk off of,” Josephine taking up on Amanda’s offer; “It can be used by Steve to help clean and disinfect cuts. It will sting like hell,” Josephine picking several apples; curious as to why the trees are fruiting early when spring is the time apple trees blossom with flowers for pollination.
“Can you use the still to make cider,” the head mare pulling out a sack and pulling the picked apples in it.
“It won’t be a true cider,” Josephine answering; “but the moonshine can have hints of apple in it for flavor. Apples need to be pressed; similar to olives before you ferment it like grapes.”
Both Amanda and Josephine spent the next twenty minutes filling up a sack full of apples as they chatted. The conversation ranging from what they did before they arrived to this new world to become centaurs; the building blocks at repopulating the world after a deadly plague wiped out the previous inhabitants. Transitioning to favorite foods and what they will miss the most now that they can never return back to Earth. The conversation soon went to biology and certain urges that Josephine was starting to get uncomfortable in discussing. Knowing that she will eventually have to mate; be it tonight at the earliest or holding out until she enters estrus and the desire to be breed and bear a foal becomes unbearable to resist. She ponders whether or not to find a quiet spot in the village and let the Russian Don mate with her or wait until bed. Listening to Amanda, it was clear that trying to resist her body’s new needs would be a near impossible task.
“Rip off the band-aide and get it over with,” was her advice to becoming a centaur fully in mind, body and spirit. They soon trotted back to the village to deposit the apples at the kitchen just in time to see Wendy and Midnight return with a buck and a brace of rabbits. The two seeing an eight hundred pound black bear getting gutted skinned and dressed did surprise the two. Being informed of the bear possibly following them from their previous hunting trip did worry them. The two were even more surprised when they were told that Josephine was the one who fought and killed the bear. They wanted to congratulate the Nakota but she already quietly left; giving the excuse that she needed to use the communal washroom so she could be left alone with her thoughts.