the hand, back up across the wrist and just onto the forearm bones, but only on the hand side of the break. Tando had tolerated all this fairly well, with only an occasional moan. The hemp must be working its magic fairly well even without Pont’s other herbal ingredients. Pell inspected the apparatus a moment more then put Tando’s arm, board and all, back in the cold water. Tando moaned and struggled a bit but tolerated it better this time. When Pell thought the wrist should be numb, he pulled it out and checked the straps, snugging up a few even tighter than he had gotten them before. He put Tando’s arm back in the water again and once more stepped out into the icy water to stand over the arm. As the submerged arm cooled again, Pell carefully considered how to exert the greatest possible force during this next try. He was fairly certain that Tando wouldn’t be giving him another chance if he failed this time. He had pulled very hard on the two fingers he had reduced. How much harder might he have to pull on an arm?
Pell bent Tando’s arm up to a right angle at the elbow. He grasped the proximal part of the board with his right hand, just below the fracture, bending the wrist and hand back. He grasped the other end of the board with Tando’s strapped fingers in his left hand then put his foot on Tando’s biceps just above the bent elbow. With a surge, Pell pulled mightily. The board bent the bone even farther back at the fracture site. Still through the board, Pell could feel the bones grinding together and slipping around. Tando flailed up, striking Pell on the back, though Pell hardly noticed. With his own left hand, which was grasping the board and Tando’s hand, he pulled the wrist back straight. This maneuver laid the board back down against Tando’s proximal forearm.
Pell stared. Yes! The board lay flat against the arm! Tando’s arm was straight again! It even seemed like it was back to its original length! Tears ran down Pell’s cheeks. He started to let go, expecting Tando’s arm to stay straight. The dislocated fingers had remained straight, after he had reduced them. To his alarm, in a sickening fashion the arm started to bend again. Pell remembered that the rabbit’s leg had done the same thing. He pushed the board back down against Tando’s forearm—this seemed to hold it straight. He held it there with one hand and lifted his own feet out of the icy water to sit on the bank and look at his work. Absently Pell reached out, picked up one more of the leather straps, and began to wrap it around the proximal forearm to secure the board in place as a splint. While doing this Pell slowly came to realize that Tando was still pounding him weakly on the back, all the while gasping in great wracking sobs.
Pell turned, “Tando, it worked. Your arm looks straight!”
Tando looked at his arm, still gasping. Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground. For panic stricken minute, Pell feared that Tando’s spirit had left him, but after watching carefully, he could tell that Tando was still breath ing . With a gasp, Pell began breathing again as well.
Pell slowly began to wind even more leather straps into place. When he had Tando’s arm firmly strapped to the wooden splint he propped it against the supine Tando's abdomen. To his amazement, a sense of complete exhaustion rolled over Pell. He considered the physical effort involved in what he had just completed and it didn’t seem like much, however he seemed to be unraveled. He lay back next to Tando, trembling.
To hide her own tears, Donte had gone out collecting firewood while Pell whittled on the little board. Her own nerves were tattered by the battering alteration of despair and hope for her only surviving child. She didn’t honestly want to survive Pell’s death, a death that she saw as inevitable unless Roley took him back into the Aldans. A squalid death in st arvation or a savage death in the jaws of some predator—in either
Pell bent Tando’s arm up to a right angle at the elbow. He grasped the proximal part of the board with his right hand, just below the fracture, bending the wrist and hand back. He grasped the other end of the board with Tando’s strapped fingers in his left hand then put his foot on Tando’s biceps just above the bent elbow. With a surge, Pell pulled mightily. The board bent the bone even farther back at the fracture site. Still through the board, Pell could feel the bones grinding together and slipping around. Tando flailed up, striking Pell on the back, though Pell hardly noticed. With his own left hand, which was grasping the board and Tando’s hand, he pulled the wrist back straight. This maneuver laid the board back down against Tando’s proximal forearm.
Pell stared. Yes! The board lay flat against the arm! Tando’s arm was straight again! It even seemed like it was back to its original length! Tears ran down Pell’s cheeks. He started to let go, expecting Tando’s arm to stay straight. The dislocated fingers had remained straight, after he had reduced them. To his alarm, in a sickening fashion the arm started to bend again. Pell remembered that the rabbit’s leg had done the same thing. He pushed the board back down against Tando’s forearm—this seemed to hold it straight. He held it there with one hand and lifted his own feet out of the icy water to sit on the bank and look at his work. Absently Pell reached out, picked up one more of the leather straps, and began to wrap it around the proximal forearm to secure the board in place as a splint. While doing this Pell slowly came to realize that Tando was still pounding him weakly on the back, all the while gasping in great wracking sobs.
Pell turned, “Tando, it worked. Your arm looks straight!”
Tando looked at his arm, still gasping. Then his eyes rolled back and he collapsed to the ground. For panic stricken minute, Pell feared that Tando’s spirit had left him, but after watching carefully, he could tell that Tando was still breath ing . With a gasp, Pell began breathing again as well.
Pell slowly began to wind even more leather straps into place. When he had Tando’s arm firmly strapped to the wooden splint he propped it against the supine Tando's abdomen. To his amazement, a sense of complete exhaustion rolled over Pell. He considered the physical effort involved in what he had just completed and it didn’t seem like much, however he seemed to be unraveled. He lay back next to Tando, trembling.
To hide her own tears, Donte had gone out collecting firewood while Pell whittled on the little board. Her own nerves were tattered by the battering alteration of despair and hope for her only surviving child. She didn’t honestly want to survive Pell’s death, a death that she saw as inevitable unless Roley took him back into the Aldans. A squalid death in st arvation or a savage death in the jaws of some predator—in either
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