NOVEL NEXT 50. Healing and Tasting
They set out, Freja acting as guide and guard. It was mid-afternoon and, while they could push to reach the city by evening, Bonny thought it would be better to arrive in the morning. Besides, she wanted to investigate the dairy farm she saw earlier.
The rest of the centaur patrol left the road to circle around the plains and check for threats. The circle usually took four to five days to complete.
Walking was much slower than the centaur ride earlier and it took a couple hours to reach the farm. Bonny frowned as she noticed that Eloisss and Freja watched each other closely, but didn’t talk. The rest of her companions happily chatted with the centaur about the region and what to expect.
She had tales of fights with predators among the plains and edges of the forest, including trolls, rocs, wolves, with an occasional goblin or gnoll raid. The patrol kept the surrounding farms relatively safe and there was an extra patrol for the forest road on days that the main patrol was away.
Beaverton was founded by a band of beavers, who dammed the stream and created the lake, but they didn’t have much interest in managing the other species who settled after. The beavers mostly kept to themselves on a separate town in the middle of the lake, though they were responsible for city planning and building.
Half of the city was built on land and the other half built on long piers and docks extending out over the lake. The city itself was managed by a merchant council, primarily human, but a weasel had been voted in the previous year after one of the former leaders disappeared.
They finally reached the farm in the late afternoon, the sun a handspan above the horizon. There were other farms around them, but most held fields of grain with no one in attendance, leaving the dairy farm somewhat isolated.
There were a dozen or so cattle, with four cow girls caring for them. About half of the actual cows were white and black, similar to dairy cattle that Bonny had seen in pictures on Earth. The rest of them were various other colors, from solid black to spotted red. There were a few small calves as well.
A tall, particularly well endowed young woman by the gate caught Bonny's attention. She had striking auburn hair with matching fur and wore a white halter top, that strained to support her huge breasts, and a black, pleated skirt that fell to mid-thigh. She was tall and muscled, with wide shoulders and horns that protruded from her temples and curved forward. Her ears were cupped and stuck out to the sides. She smiled and waved as the party approached.
“Welcome to Udder Delight. I’m Colette. What brings you to my farm?” She said as she unlatched the gate to the farm yard.
“Hi, Colette. I’m Bonny.” Bonny said as she hopped forward, still holding the fox. “Do you sell milk to travelers?”
“Of course.” Colette replied, looking around at the companions, then back and Bonny. She raised her eyebrows slightly at Bonny's revealing armor, but didn't say anything about it. “I ask 2 small copper per skin, or 4 if we provide the container. Discounts for groups, of course. How much do you need?”
“Uh, oh.” Bonny suddenly realized that she had no money. She hadn’t had to buy anything since she’d arrived. She turned to look at her companions. They all shrugged, except for Freja, who had turned to go through one of the bags tied to her body.
She turned back to the minotaur, “Sorry, we’re from the forest and don’t have any money. Can we trade for it instead? I can heal anyone that’s sick or injured.”
Colette brightened. “Oh, yes. One of my girls was kicked the other day. Come in.” She waved the group in and closed the gate behind them, then led the way to the other cow girls, who were watching quietly. One had brown fur and the other two were black and white, similar to the dairy cows that Bonny was familiar with. All three wore clothes similar to Colette's.
Bonny waved and smiled at the three. “Hi, I’m Bonny. I hear one of you is injured?”
The girl with brown fur limped forward, blushing. She had small horns that pointed up. “I’m Nellie. Sorry.” The apology was whispered.
“Oh, don’t apologize. Here.” Bonny stepped forward and laid a hand on Nellie’s shoulder. “Divine Mending!”
The cow girl shivered as the power rushed through her. She stretched her leg, then hopped up and down, her large breasts bouncing as she did. They weren’t as big as Colette’s, but still outclassed any of Bonny’s companions. The girl suddenly bounced forward and hugged Bonny on the side opposite Kanae. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Bonny said, as she smiled and held the girl tight for a moment, feeling the softness between them. When they separated, she turned to the others. “Is anyone else injured? Or feeling sick? We don’t want any diseases contaminating the milk, do we?”
The other two girls shook their heads, but Colette spoke up. “Those two are Bess and Clara. If you can check for any other injuries or disease in us and the cattle, I would be grateful.”
“Sure. Triage!” Bonny looked over the girls and cattle, finding two of the cows had black spots and streaks inside surrounding organs. She hopped over to them and touched their backs. “Panacea!”
Nellie spoke, “That’s May. She’s the one that kicked me.”
Bonny checked again, but everyone looked clean. “She was sick with something, maybe that’s why. Either way, it should be taken care of.” She smiled around at the group.
“Thank you, Bonny. It’s difficult to get a priest to come out and check the farm. What type of milk would you like?”
“You have multiple types? Can I try all of them?”
“Certainly. We have some in storage, but fresh milk is best.” Colette smiled. “Girls, can you milk the cows? Just a little from each breed, I think.”
Bonny turned to her companions. “Do any of you want some?”
“Yes, nya.”
“Yess.”
“Hey! Can I sip yours? I don’t need much.” Adelina sang. Bonny smiled up at where she was sitting on Willowbelle's head and nodded.
Willowbelle declined and Kanae nodded, still held in Bonny's arms with her head on the bunny's shoulder.
“I can pay for my own.” Freja added after everyone else finished.
“No money is required.” Colette said to the centaur. “The service Bonny performed is more than enough.”
“Can I help milk the cows?” Bonny asked.
Nellie called to her in response. “Follow me, I’ll show you how.”
Bonny set Kanae down and gave her a head pat, then hopped after the brown furred girl, leaving her companions to work out the details of what they all wanted.
Nellie grabbed a pail and stool and led Bonny to one of the red and white spotted cows. Once set up, she showed Bonny how to squeeze and pull the cow's teat to spray milk into the pail. She left Bonny to it and got a second pail. When she returned, Bonny had a couple of inches in the pail.
“That’s enough.” Nellie stopped Bonny and handed her the new pail. The cow girl reached up to untie her halter top, releasing her huge breasts. Her nipples were longer and puffier than Bonny’s and the same color brown as her fur. “You can try mine as well.”
“Uh, really?” Bonny eyed the girl, looking back and forth between her face and tits. “Are you sure?”
Nellie blushed and nodded.
“Do I do the same thing? Squirt it into the bucket? Or uh, suck on, umm, you?”
“Either. Would you like to suckle me?” She grinned at Bonny’s discomfort and moved over to stand next to where Bonny still sat on the stool.
Bonny nodded and leaned forward to wrap her lips around the long nipples. She sucked on them as Nellie squeezed on her breasts just above her areola. Milk sprayed into Bonny’s mouth, sweet and warm.
It was thin and watery, even more than the skim milk she remembered from Earth, and much, much sweeter. There were hints of cucumber, almonds, and honey, foods Nellie had probably eaten recently.
Bonny closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around the cow girl’s waist as she suckled, swishing the milk around her mouth and swallowing between each ejection. They continued for a couple minutes, switching breasts halfway through.
When Nellie pulled away and pulled up her top, Bonny sighed and licked her lips. “Oh my God, um, goddess, -esses. Thank you. You, uh, that was the best milk I’ve ever tasted.”
Nellie smiled and leaned down to kiss Bonny. “You’re welcome. Now, let’s take this pail back to the front, so everyone can try it.”
They put the unused second pail back on a rack and walked around to see the other two cow girls also had pails with milk in them. Colette grinned knowingly when she saw Bonny and Nellie, but, as before, she said nothing.
The party tried each of the different types and decided which they preferred. One was very similar to milk that Bonny remembered from Earth, one was creamier, and one was thinner, similar to skim milk.
None of the three tasted as good as Nellie’s milk and Bonny kept eyeing the girl, who blushed each time their eyes met.
“Is there a problem with us camping by the river?” Bonny pointed across the road to a small clearing between it and the water.
“No. But we have a spare room, if you would rather stay here.”
Bonny looked at her companions, who all shrugged. “We haven’t slept indoors in, uh, well, not since I got here. It’s been a few weeks at least. I’m not sure about Freja, she just joined us.” She turned to look at the centaur.
“I can sleep in the barn, or across the road, but I would prefer not to stay in a small room.”
“You can all sleep in the barn, if you wish. There’s hay for a soft bedding.”
Bonny looked around again and accepted when no one disagreed. “That will do, thank you.”
