"Stupid frigging sheep," Scott stammered to himself as a limb slapped off the flank of a darting sheep and caught in right in the nose. If the sting to such a tender part of the face was not bad enough, the felling of liquid on his upper lip indicating it had given him a bloody nose was worse. Instinctively he wiped it with his hand and then started after the flock of sheep that had busted through the fence and scattered into the woods, muttering under his breath as he began after the ovine.
Scott was about to step over a fallen log when he heard the rythmatic thud...thud...thud...of his hired farmhand pounding fence posts deeply into the soil. In his haste of chasing after sheep, he had lost his bearings and had not realized the meandering path through the wood had taken him to the Davis Field; an isolated field located on the back portion of the farm. Through the woods, Scott could see a hand upon the wooden fence post, then the 12 pound sledge hammer coming down again and again upon the top of the post, driving it into the soil further with each hit. But as his hired hand finished with the post and stopped down to pick up another; Scott's jaw nearly dropped to his chest: his hired hand did not have a stitch of clothes on.
For the moment Scott resisted the urge to run out into the field and ask her what she was doing working in the buff, but instead chose to watch her for a minute. It certainly was a unique perspective because Scott had never seen a naked person performing any sort of work, and it was intriguing watching the muscles groups of the body contort and twist as she brought the sledge hammer up over her head and then swung it with all her might down upon the top of the post again and again.
Even from this distance he could see a bit of sweat developing as she worked, giving her well tanned skin a bit of sheen as the reports of her sledgehammer blows echoed across the valley. Of course her chest bobbled with each contact of steel upon wood too which Scott could not help but admire.
Deep inside he knew he should not have been watching her, but at 20 years old, Amy had a rather impressive body. Much of that came from hard work where more calories were burned than what were eaten for meals so her curves developed from muscle groups rather then diets or plastic surgery. But there was a girl next door look to her too from a bruise on her shin, another upon her thigh and scratch across her left cheek. Her heart shaped face, brunette locks, and blue eyes might have come from the genetics of her parents, but her work ethic certainly came from within and was impressive to a farmer almost as much as her form.
She had come to the farm in May answering an advertisement for a hired hand he had placed on a bulletin board at a local college. Hesitant at first; a lack of other prospective employees left him with no choice but to hire her, and yet she had exceeded his expectations in every way. Quiet but hardworking, smart but not all-knowing, and frugal but resourceful; Scott was going to be disappointed when she left in the fall. His only regret was that he could not pay her any more then he did.
In fact, Scott was nearly mesmerized by her and would have continued to watch her perform her farm duties naked if the sheep had not crashed through the woods and tore through the fields. Amy was distracted by the wayward sheep and Scott used the moment to his advantage. Rushing after them, he burst into the field himself as if he was trying to regroup the sheep himself.
Seeing her boss, Amy started towards her clothes, but she had removed them early in the day and now they were seven hundred feet of fence line away from her. Realizing it was a futile attempt to rush towards them and put them on, she simply bit her lower lip as her boss approached forgetting about the sheep that were no merrily grazing away on fresh, high protein grass.
"Nice day to get a tan", she said with a sheepish grin as Scott sized her up.
"I see, and without a tan line it's apparent that you do this often? It's just a good damn thing you're not working with barb wire Amy."
"Or in poison ivy," she countered. Scott chuckled and then continued to speak.
"I will say, I have seen all kinds of methods to put up a fence, but I have never seen it done in the nude." At that quip, Amy laughed herself, but it contained nervousness to it as she did so. "
"No and you probably never will. I probably should explain though you won't understand I'm sure. You see I took this job because I am a naturalist. I saw your ad and figured what a great way to spend the summer. I could help take care of the sheep and on days like this when I am out in the back forty; I could strip down and do my work undressed. What other job could I get that would allow me to do that? It's just when you said you were heading into Bangor for more fencing supplies I figured I would be safe for the day. I'm sorry Scott; I should be in my clothes I know."
"Well I started to head to Bangor, but then I saw the Hampshires had broken through the fence so I chased after them. It took awhile but they finally ran through the woods all the way up to here. That's when I saw you..."
"Working naked," she said finishing his sentence for him? "I know it's weird, but I do get my work done, I mean look I got seven hundred feet of fence up already today so it's not like it hinders me, Hell it might even invigorate me and I get more done, I don't know?"
"You're a good worker Amy, I know that..."
"But you got to fire me because it's not safe to have me out here working without any clothes on. I understand. Because of insurance reasons you just have too."
"I don't want you getting hurt Amy, but I don't run my farm based on insurance bureaucracy either. You are right, you do get your work done and it's not like I could find a replacement for you anyway, not halfway through the summer. You'll have to be careful and not get hurt, but I guess I don't really care."
"Well in a way I am glad you found out. It's not like I wanted to keep this from you, but what was I supposed to say on my job application, "oh by the way, I am a nudist too." The better farmers would refuse to hire you, and the ones that did would be the perverts that would watch you all the time just to get their jollies."
"Well I'm not the latter Amy. You're a good worker and seem comfortable working undressed, and that is the only reason I am looking the other way on this."
"I know that Scott and I respect you for it. It's not what you think anyway. Working all day without clothes is not a sexual thing at all, it's just liberating. Haven't you ever just wanted to take off all your clothes and be naked for a day?"
Scott grinned at the question but finally had to shake his head no.
"Not really? But just be careful Amy. I might be open-minded but this is a small town which surely isn't. I would hate the word to get out and have you being the local spectacle. "
After a week, Scott was not so sure approaching Amy in that fateful field had been the right thing to do. She had ignored his suggestion of staying low key in her nudity, and now that her secret had been revealed, it was more likely to see her out of her clothes then in them. But Scott had not been entirely truthful either because he found himself watching her while she was busy working. Part of that came from the sheer number of tasks she performed while being disrobed; from drenching the sheep, to mending fences to driving the tractor, she did so nude.
Amy was similarly dressed the day the two of them were clearing land on the Hamlin place. It was located on the western part of the farm and had been overgrown with a small apple orchard that Scott had never been able to bring himself to cut. But the old apple trees were shading the small hay barn his Great Grandfather had built there, and the trees were causing the barn to remain wet after rain storms and it was starting to decay.
Amy had just stepped back from tossing a branch onto a growing brush pile as Scott stepped up to one of the apple trees with his chainsaw. The notch was made without incident, but as he made the back cut, and the tree began to fall, the rotted apple tree broke off halfway up. With his eyes watching where the tree was falling, Scott could not see the top of the tree falling form above. Amy let out a yell but the tree had already struck Scott squarely on the shoulder as it reached his ears. Collapsing into a pile of branches, Amy rushed forward to shut off the still running chainsaw and pull the six inch log off her employer.
"Scott are you alright," she asked ignoring the rather harsh branches that brushed against her bare feet and shins? "Do you want me to call an ambulance?"
"No, but I think my shoulder is messed up pretty good."
Amy let her boss lean on her as she led him into the barn and onto a few bales of hay that had not been given to the sheep over the previous winter. Scott reluctantly sat down upon one, the grimace on his face revealing the incredible amount of pain that he was experiencing.
"God it's a wonder you're not dead. Here, pull off your shirt and I'll take a look at it."
Scott really just wanted to be left alone to shake off the collision of wood and flesh, but he knew Amy was not about to let that happen. He was glad Amy had witnessed the accident though and was there to help as her fingers gripped his black T-shirt and pulled it over his head.
"Let me guess, it hurts right here," she said as she began to push on a portion of his shoulder.
"Yeah a little."