questing fingers.
“Oh, a few weeks. We can be grateful it wasn’t your neck. What happened?”
“The dog chased a barn cat through the corral, and that fool horse thought it was a cougar, I swear. He went higher’n that barn wall, and I wasn’t hanging on tight enough. When he landed, I took a header.”
“And landed on your arm.” Ingeborg sat back on her heels and glanced up at the barn. “High wall.”
“Seemed it at the time.” Manda sounded more like herself. By the time this story got around, the horse would have jumped clear over the corral poles, if Ingeborg knew anything about Manda’s storytelling abilities. Though she was quiet too much of the time, once she got going on her horses, she’d keep an audience enthralled till the end of the tale.
“Can I get you a dipper of water or something?” Deborah sat beside her sister, her arms clenched around her updrawn knees, her eyes taking up most of her face.
“Bring the whole bucket and pour it over me.”
“Really?”
“Nah, a dipper would be good.” Manda’s eyes followed her sister, as with bare feet flying she headed for the rails, slid between two, and ran to the well. “Scared her right bad.”
“She ran all the way to the church.”
“Poor kid.” But pride shone in Manda’s hazel eyes. Since their ma died and their pa had left for supplies and never returned, the two had been inseparable. Zebulun MacCallister had saved them from dying of starvation on their homestead near the Missouri River and had brought them with him on his own flight that stopped with the folks in Blessing.
Kaaren and Mary Martha returned with the supplies in a basket, along with two pieces of kindling to be bound for the splint. Kaaren poured a couple of glugs from the flat brown bottle into a cup of water and handed it to Manda.
“Drink this. In a couple of minutes you won’t feel any pain at all.”
Manda made a face but drank it all down. She wiped her mouth with the back of her good hand. “Ugh.”
“Now, Manda, Kaaren is going to take your hand, and I’ll hold your elbow. On the count of three we’ll give a hard, steady pull, and please God, that bone will snap right back into place. Then we’ll splint it and wrap it and get you up to the house before you fall sound asleep on us.”
“Don’t got no choice now, do I?”
“Not really.” Kaaren stroked the wisps of dark hair back off the girl’s forehead. “You can scream if you need to. No one to hear but us, and we won’t tell.”
Manda looked to see where Deborah was. “Why don’t you send her to the house for something? She don’t like to see pain. Scares her some bad.”
Mary Martha nodded. “I’ll take care of that.” She handed the stick she’d been wrapping in strips of an old sheet to Ingeborg. “We’ll go get something going for dinner.” She met Deborah at the corral. “Come, we need to get Manda something to eat.”
“But I got the water.” Deborah slipped around the partly open gate and headed for her sister, her gaze tight on the dipper so she wouldn’t spill any water. Only after Manda drank the whole thing did the little girl turn and run back to Mary Martha. “Can we have some molasses cookies? That’s Manda’s favorite.”
“I know.” The two of them headed for the house hand in hand.
“You ready?” Ingeborg asked the injured girl.
Manda nodded. “I feel woozy.”
“Good. That’s the way we want you.” Ingeborg took hold of Manda’s elbow with both hands and Kaaren did the same with the wrist.
“One, two, three.” They both pulled. The grating of the bone sounded worse than fingernails screeching on a blackboard. But with a slight snap, it settled back into place. Manda’s eyes flickered open.
“Done?”
“Done. Hold steady now while we wrap this up.” Ingeborg and Kaaren worked together as they had so many times before in tending to injuries of all kinds. Metiz had passed many of her healing skills on to Ingeborg through the
“Oh, a few weeks. We can be grateful it wasn’t your neck. What happened?”
“The dog chased a barn cat through the corral, and that fool horse thought it was a cougar, I swear. He went higher’n that barn wall, and I wasn’t hanging on tight enough. When he landed, I took a header.”
“And landed on your arm.” Ingeborg sat back on her heels and glanced up at the barn. “High wall.”
“Seemed it at the time.” Manda sounded more like herself. By the time this story got around, the horse would have jumped clear over the corral poles, if Ingeborg knew anything about Manda’s storytelling abilities. Though she was quiet too much of the time, once she got going on her horses, she’d keep an audience enthralled till the end of the tale.
“Can I get you a dipper of water or something?” Deborah sat beside her sister, her arms clenched around her updrawn knees, her eyes taking up most of her face.
“Bring the whole bucket and pour it over me.”
“Really?”
“Nah, a dipper would be good.” Manda’s eyes followed her sister, as with bare feet flying she headed for the rails, slid between two, and ran to the well. “Scared her right bad.”
“She ran all the way to the church.”
“Poor kid.” But pride shone in Manda’s hazel eyes. Since their ma died and their pa had left for supplies and never returned, the two had been inseparable. Zebulun MacCallister had saved them from dying of starvation on their homestead near the Missouri River and had brought them with him on his own flight that stopped with the folks in Blessing.
Kaaren and Mary Martha returned with the supplies in a basket, along with two pieces of kindling to be bound for the splint. Kaaren poured a couple of glugs from the flat brown bottle into a cup of water and handed it to Manda.
“Drink this. In a couple of minutes you won’t feel any pain at all.”
Manda made a face but drank it all down. She wiped her mouth with the back of her good hand. “Ugh.”
“Now, Manda, Kaaren is going to take your hand, and I’ll hold your elbow. On the count of three we’ll give a hard, steady pull, and please God, that bone will snap right back into place. Then we’ll splint it and wrap it and get you up to the house before you fall sound asleep on us.”
“Don’t got no choice now, do I?”
“Not really.” Kaaren stroked the wisps of dark hair back off the girl’s forehead. “You can scream if you need to. No one to hear but us, and we won’t tell.”
Manda looked to see where Deborah was. “Why don’t you send her to the house for something? She don’t like to see pain. Scares her some bad.”
Mary Martha nodded. “I’ll take care of that.” She handed the stick she’d been wrapping in strips of an old sheet to Ingeborg. “We’ll go get something going for dinner.” She met Deborah at the corral. “Come, we need to get Manda something to eat.”
“But I got the water.” Deborah slipped around the partly open gate and headed for her sister, her gaze tight on the dipper so she wouldn’t spill any water. Only after Manda drank the whole thing did the little girl turn and run back to Mary Martha. “Can we have some molasses cookies? That’s Manda’s favorite.”
“I know.” The two of them headed for the house hand in hand.
“You ready?” Ingeborg asked the injured girl.
Manda nodded. “I feel woozy.”
“Good. That’s the way we want you.” Ingeborg took hold of Manda’s elbow with both hands and Kaaren did the same with the wrist.
“One, two, three.” They both pulled. The grating of the bone sounded worse than fingernails screeching on a blackboard. But with a slight snap, it settled back into place. Manda’s eyes flickered open.
“Done?”
“Done. Hold steady now while we wrap this up.” Ingeborg and Kaaren worked together as they had so many times before in tending to injuries of all kinds. Metiz had passed many of her healing skills on to Ingeborg through the
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