After Rapunzel and her friends parted ways, Clover, Tara, and Jessop decided to head inland to forage for food. A couple of hours later, they stumbled upon a remote cottage in the woods, and Tara lifted her hand, signaling for the group to take cover while they scoped the place out. There was an odd-looking man working in a large vegetable garden, and they peered at him through squinted eyes, deciding if it was safe to approach.
"He looks harmless enough," Clover said, glancing at his short britches held up by criss-crossing suspenders. "I think he's some kind of dwarf."
"There doesn't appear to be anyone else in the house," Jessop nodded, peering up at the idle chimney.
"But that's a pretty big garden for one person," Tara said, darting her eyes suspiciously over the surrounding property. "We better approach carefully in case he has friends in the area."
"Maybe we can ask him for some fresh vegetables?" Clover said, hiking up the string of dead rabbits slung over her shoulder. "It would be nice to have some garnishes to go with our wild game for dinner tonight."
"Especially if he's growing the food for sale," Jessop nodded.
"Okay," Tara said, watching Jessop holding his hand over the hilt of his sword as he slowly approached the man. "But keep your weapons concealed so as not to scare him."
As the trio approached the man from three sides, he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and reared up, raising his rake over his head defensively.
"Who goes there?" he said, waving the tool in front of his quivering chest.
"We mean no harm," Clover said, raising her palms. "We were wondering if you might have some surplus rations that you could share with some hungry travelers. We'd be happy to pay you for anything you can share."
The man paused as he appraised the group, scanning Clover's and Tara's tight-fitting bodysuits, then he slowly lowered his rake.
"Are you from the village?" he said.
"No," Tara said. "We've been traveling for some distance and are just stopping to pick up some provisions."
The dwarf turned toward Jessop and examined his athletic build, peering at his sword resting by his side.
"You're a bit of an odd combination for traveling vagabonds," he said. "Two women and a man, traveling alone. Are you related?"
"We could say the same of you," Clover said. "A strange man tending crops all by himself in the middle of the forest..."
"I don't live here alone," he said, motioning to the front of his cottage where a group of similar sized dwarfs tilted the door open, peering at the three friends with bemused interest. "If you're hungry, you're welcome to come inside and share a meal with my friends. It looks like you've got enough meat to feed all of us."
Clover paused as she inspected the group of gnomes bunched up around the entrance. They didn't appear to be carrying any weapons, and in their funny costumes they looked like something more out of a children's fairy tale than a threatening menace. But there was something about the unusual pouches on the front of their pants that seemed out of place. Instead of the usual zipper or button closure, the loose and bulging flaps appeared to be held up by a simple hook and grommet. She turned toward her friends and shrugged her shoulders, signaling that it seemed safe to proceed.
"Okay," Tara said, looking toward Jessop, who nodded in agreement. "We'll be happy to share our bounty if you'll add some greens from your garden."
"Of course," the man said, motioning for his friends to allow them into the house. "We're always happy to share our spoils with famished travelers."
The group followed the man into his cottage, then he turned around to introduce himself.
"My name's Randy," he said. "And these are my friends, Frisky, Itchy, Noisy, Kinky, Splashy, and Jumbo."
Clover couldn't help snickering at the funny names of the dwarves.
"Those are some pretty interesting names," she chuckled, motioning toward her friends. "My name's Clover, and these are my friends Tara and Jessop."
"Help yourself to a seat at our table," Randy said, pointing toward a large, oblong bench while the other gnomes scurried to fetch some extra chairs. "Rest your legs while our band cooks up some rabbit stew."
The three friends sat together at one end of the table as the dwarves bustled around their makeshift kitchen, chopping the meat while the others sliced an assortment of vegetables, dropping them into a steaming pot on the stove. The cottage had one small central room comprising the kitchen on one side and some upholstered furniture on the other next to the fireplace, with an elevated dormitory surrounding the perimeter of the room, accessible by a single wooden ladder. There wasn't much decoration in the place, save a strange-looking mold of a woman's ass resting on stilts next to the fireplace.
She peered at her friends with a wrinkled forehead, tilting her head toward the strange-looking object, wondering what they'd gotten themselves into with this odd assortment of weird-looking men. But within a short period of time, the dwarves had cooked up a delicious-smelling stew, placing steaming bowls of broth on their place settings and joining them at the table. Randy poured some wine from a decanter into each of their goblets, then he raised his cup in honor of his guests.
"To our wandering guests," he said, nodding toward the trio. "May you leave nothing but footprints and take with you only happy memories."
"Thank you," Clover smiled, raising her glass to accept his tribute and taking a healthy swig of the strong wine. "And thank you for welcoming us into your home."
"It's our pleasure," Randy said, seeming to be the ringleader. "It's always a treat to socialize with newcomers outside our little clique."
"If you don't mind my asking," Tara said, ever wary of strangers. "How did you all come to live alone in this outpost so far from civilization?"
"Unfortunately," Randy said, nodding toward his friends. "Normal people don't take kindly toward dwarves. They tend to shun and bully us, so we decided to find a place where we could be together and live in peace and solitude."
"You don't get bored, living all alone out here?" Tara said.
"Not usually," Randy smiled. "We have plenty of ways to keep ourselves amused, and we have periodic visitors who come to sample our wares."
"You mean the vegetables grown in the garden?" Clover asked.
"Among other things," Randy said, winking at his dwarf sitting next to him.
"What's the purpose of that thing in the corner?" Jessop said, staring at the ass-shaped bust. "It looks remarkably life-like.”
"It's a fucking machine," Randy said nonchalantly. "For those lonely times when we need to feel the form of a woman."
"What's it made out of and how does it work?" Jessop said, focusing on the glistening slit under the base of the buttocks.
"Pig skin, pulled over sea sponge," Randy said. "Our group of artisans have some remarkable talents. Do you want to touch it?"
Jessop hesitated while he furrowed his brow at the strange contraption.
"What are those levers sticking out of the top of it?" he said, shaking his head. "What are they for?"
"The one on the right provides variable compression from wooden supports surrounding the enclosure. And the one on the left adjusts the speed of the pumping action."
"You mean that thing moves automatically?" Jessop said, flaring his eyes open in surprise.
"Yes," Randy said. "The internal parts are connected to a pivot, driven by a paddlewheel connected to the outside stream. There's a cam attached to the device to adjust the speed of the movement to simulate the rocking action of a woman's pussy."
"Holy shit," Jessop said. "That's ingenious!"
"We thought so," Randy smiled. "Would you like to give it a try? I think you'll find it's almost as good as the real thing."
