Thank you for reading my story, I hope that you enjoy it. Love Mica xx, Yorkshire England.
All comments good or bad welcomed. I will try and reply to each and every one but please note that all anonymous comments will be deleted immediately and will not be read.
The rain had been falling for about two weeks, it just never seemed to stop. Josh and I were pretty much cut off and had been for about 2 days. We only had overhead supplied electricity as a main service here, we were pretty remote in the dales. We had solar panels and batteries as backups, but, well, we haven't seen any blue skies or sun in weeks, our batteries were low and we were keeping them for emergencies should the overhead line fail. We had a good supply of dried wood that we were slowly working our way down, when we boiled water, any unused we put in a thermos, anything we could to save energy usage. So far the electricity supply had held, but it was flaky and would often cut out for hours.
"Mom," Josh yelled from out back.
"Yes Josh baby, what?"
"Shall I light the Aga? We can cook tea and make some bread too."
"Yes, I will get some meat out of the fridge."
I hated opening the freezer, when the electric finally went, which it surely would, we would have to use the generator and we only had about 300 gallons of diesel, and that was also needed for the tractor and with all the roads flooded, we had no chance of getting any more, not for at least a month, the roads would need several weeks to dry out after the floods receded. The longer I kept the freezer shut, the colder it stayed. I usually opened it only when necessary. Tea tonight would be the last of our defrosted meat, so, the freezer had to be opened to get another few days of frozen meat out to defrost. Showers were once a week and not piping hot, but we kept clean, body washes daily and Sunday was our shower day. The AGA gave us warm water, but our shower was electric, just the mishmash cobble together way things are done in old farmhouses.
We had moved up here to this old dale farm about ten years ago, but very sadly Paul, Josh's dad, passed a few years after we moved, and then shortly after that our livestock was decimated by TB, and we couldn't afford to replace it. We managed to get a few ewes and a ram, and they were able to keep us pretty self-sufficient in lamb and mutton, as long as we were frugal, and we processed the meat ourselves. We also got our milk from the ewes too. We occasionally swapped some mutton for pork with a neighbouring farm. We grow and harvest our own hay which we feed to the sheep over winter. It can be quite labour intensive when we harvest the hay, but mostly we just tick along. We grew a few potatoes too, and runner beans, using seeds from the previous year's crop. We had considered getting chickens, but, well, just hadn't gotten around to it. We aren't eligible for subsidies, so, Pauls widow's pension is what we have to live on.
We have an old Massey Ferguson tractor with a front bucket and some forks, plus a bale spike, a flail mower, harrow, baler, trailer and a few other bits and pieces. Everything we have is old, but doesn't require any computers to maintain, it is all manual. Josh and I have both learnt how to service the equipment, and as long as nothing major goes wrong, we are okay, we don't need anyone else. One of the neighbouring farmers did offer to combine our hay for us but when I learned what his price was, and I have too much dignity for that, I declined.
As the Aga was warming, Josh and I walked down the track to see how high the water was.
"Shit mum, that's at least ten feet deep if not more."
"Language Josh. Yes, that is going to take a very long time to dry out and I am worried for this year's hay if that doesn't dry out soon, I don't want us to have to seed it, and fertilise it, that is an expense we don't need."
"Sorry mum, but that is the deepest I have ever seen it here. We are pretty much stuck. Helicopter would be the only way in."
"Crumbs. I know, but luckily, we are pretty much okay. We ought to check that the telephone is still working when we get back, and make sure the mobile is charged."
Our telephone is goodness knows how many years old and is on the kitchen wall with an outside repeater bell so we can hear it when we are on the farm. It is so old it has a rotary dial. Our mobile is also quite old, doesn't do internet or stuff, but we can ring and text if required. We have to be upstairs to use it as it doesn't get a connection downstairs. So it tends to live in my bedroom where there is a spare charger socket. But anyway, who are we going to ring?
As we were walking back, oh I don't know, perhaps I wasn't looking where I was going, I turned my ankle. It was so stupid, one moment I am walking and the next I am falling to the floor.
"Ouch," I said, loudly, and then when I tried to stand up, "oh shit."
"Mum, what? Are you okay?"
"No Josh. I have twisted my ankle, and I can't stand up."
"Do you want to hold onto me and I will try and get you to your feet and then we can hop back?"
It was worth a try. I nodded. Josh held me in my armpits, I put as much weight as I could on my good ankle, and Josh managed to get me to my feet. Oh my, that ankle hurt.
"Josh, no, I can't move, the pain is too much. Rest me on the grass by the fence post. I will sit and wait until the pain dies down."
We moved, very slowly, to the fence and Josh helped me to sit down. The rain was still teeming and showed no signs of abating. Pity it was warm spring rain and not cold winters, at least winter rain would have helped cool my ankle which felt very hot to the touch.
"I'll go and get the tractor and bale trailer, at least I can get you back to the house on that."
"Okay baby. I will be fine, just don't be like your silly mum, look where you are going, we can't have both of out of commission."
Josh turned and headed back up the track and I leant back on the post. Now he was gone I could cry and I did. Oh fuck this hurt, and I mean really hurt. I noticed my breath was raggedy, perhaps I was in shock There had been no 'crack' so I didn't think it was broken, just a bad sprain or similar. Luckily we had some Metformin and Vetrofen from the vet that we sometimes used on the sheep, not supposed to be for humans, but, what are you going to do? Working out the dosage was going to be interesting.
Eventually my sobbing stopped, and I sat there gulping. I was pretty much soaked to the skin, rain had gone down my collar, I hadn't noticed that my hood had come off and basically I was absolutely sodden right through to my skin. I would deal with that when I got back to the farm. For now I just had to wait on Josh. I heard the Massey as he approached. Thank goodness, I knew I was struggling. The pain was intense and my body was shivering in shock too. The Massey appeared, oh, it had no trailer, just the front loader bucket.
Josh pulled up and then turned so that the tractor bucket was just in front of me, it was full of hay I noticed.
"I decided that the bucket would be easier to get you into as I can get it down to ground level both here and back at the house. I put hay in it to try and make it a bit more comfortable."
Good thinking, "Good plan, but we need to go now Josh, I know enough to know I am in shock and I need to get back and dry and warm and get some medication. No matter if I cry or scream can we get me into the bucket and back home? I can't promise that I will be quiet, but I need us to get me into the house."
"Okay mum, right, can you shuffle your bum across and roll into the bucket? Once you are in, I can slowly curl it back so that you don't fall out."
I took a deep breath and inched myself across to the bucket, my dear Lord but that hurt. Just dragging my injured ankle almost made me black out. Eventually, it felt like hours, but was only a few minutes, I had my backside in the bucket, I shuffled back so that I was leaning against the side of it.
"Mum, no other way, but I am going to lift both your legs fully into the bucket. Hold on to something."
I expected he would take a minute and then do it, but no, he just bent down and picked both legs up and twisted me so that they were in the bucket. I know I screamed. The pervert farmer over the hill probably knew too. Josh got into the tractor and curled the bucket. Bless him, he did it so slowly, but still my leg moved, and I was crying with the pain by the time he stopped.
"Okay mum, you look safe, I don't think you will fall out. It is going to be bumpy, sorry, but I will go slowly and we will get you back as soon as."
I just nodded, I don't think I had the capability of speaking. I have given birth, I have broken an arm, but nothing, ever, in my life even came close to this pain.
'It's just a sprain,' I told myself.
