rather watch you, sir, if you’ll let us,” Alex told the old man politely.
Con nodded, adding, “But we could probably eat a bowl later, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course.” Perkins smiled at them and bent down to help them lift the dog onto the table. “But this won’t be pretty.”
“No, sir. But still, we would like to watch.”
He nodded, saying, “Just don’t get in my way. Miss Anna, fetch me the cleaner and some cloths.”
Anna went to do as he bid, taking a stack of clean, though stained and worn, cloths from one of the drawers and picking up a bottle of thin green-tinted liquid from the counter.
Perkins spoke soothingly to the dog as he bent over it, gently turning back its fur as he searched the wounds. Then he began to clean the wounds, all the while talking to the animal. The boys stood on one side of the table, and Anna took up her familiar position on the other side, by the animal’s head. She held the dog’s head firmly in her hands even as she kept up a litany of soft, soothing words and sounds.
The twins watched with interest, though they did at times pale a bit or scrunch up their faces with empathy. After Alex had asked a question about what he was doing, the old man explained every step he took as he cleaned out the wounds with care, then stitched up the longer gashes and decorated them all with an ointment. When the leg wound was clean, he carefully set the fractured bone, splinting it with small sticks that Anna brought him from another drawer, and wrapping it around tightly with a bandage.
When he was through, Nick finished the job by rolling up some herbs into a small ball and popping it into the dog’s mouth, stroking his throat until he swallowed it.
“That is to ease his pain,” he explained to the twins, whom he then set to creating a soft place with an old blanket near the hearth for the wounded animal to lie.
They helped him lay the dog carefully on the blankets, and the boys bent over the dog to admire Perkins’ work. After Anna had cleaned up and had made sure the boys did the same, Perkins dished up some of his stew for the lads, and they ate it hungrily, all the while peppering Nick with questions ranging from the operation they had just witnessed to the care and feeding of boa constrictors, a matter on which Nick Perkins allowed he had no knowledge.
They would doubtless have remained longer, except that Anna, glancing out the window, noticed how low in the sky the sun had sunk.
“Oh, my goodness, we have been here much longer than I realized!” she exclaimed, standing up. “It won’t be long before the sun is setting.” She turned and looked at the boys, guilt clear on her face. “And your brother has no idea where you are. I am afraid that your relatives will be terribly worried.”
The twins considered this, and Alex said fairly, “Yes, they will probably worry—but not as much as you would think. They are accustomed to our staying out.”
“When did you leave the house?” Anna asked.
“Sometime this morning. Around ten, I think.”
“Oh, my. They will have every right to be angry. I must get you home right away.”
Her heart quailed a little inside at the thought that she might have to face Reed again, but she had to escort them to their house. They were unfamiliar with the country and had come to Nick’s house from the woods behind Holcomb Manor, not from Winterset, so they would have no chance of finding their way back alone. Well, she told herself, she would just have to steel herself to face him—and hope that she could manage to hand them over to their sister and avoid Reed altogether.
The boys got up without demur, bidding goodbye to their new friend Nick and politely requesting permission to come back to check on their patient’s progress. Anna hustled them out the door and headed toward Winterset.
She should have taken them back earlier, she knew. Of course, she had not known at the time that the boys had been gone
Con nodded, adding, “But we could probably eat a bowl later, if that’s all right with you.”
“Of course.” Perkins smiled at them and bent down to help them lift the dog onto the table. “But this won’t be pretty.”
“No, sir. But still, we would like to watch.”
He nodded, saying, “Just don’t get in my way. Miss Anna, fetch me the cleaner and some cloths.”
Anna went to do as he bid, taking a stack of clean, though stained and worn, cloths from one of the drawers and picking up a bottle of thin green-tinted liquid from the counter.
Perkins spoke soothingly to the dog as he bent over it, gently turning back its fur as he searched the wounds. Then he began to clean the wounds, all the while talking to the animal. The boys stood on one side of the table, and Anna took up her familiar position on the other side, by the animal’s head. She held the dog’s head firmly in her hands even as she kept up a litany of soft, soothing words and sounds.
The twins watched with interest, though they did at times pale a bit or scrunch up their faces with empathy. After Alex had asked a question about what he was doing, the old man explained every step he took as he cleaned out the wounds with care, then stitched up the longer gashes and decorated them all with an ointment. When the leg wound was clean, he carefully set the fractured bone, splinting it with small sticks that Anna brought him from another drawer, and wrapping it around tightly with a bandage.
When he was through, Nick finished the job by rolling up some herbs into a small ball and popping it into the dog’s mouth, stroking his throat until he swallowed it.
“That is to ease his pain,” he explained to the twins, whom he then set to creating a soft place with an old blanket near the hearth for the wounded animal to lie.
They helped him lay the dog carefully on the blankets, and the boys bent over the dog to admire Perkins’ work. After Anna had cleaned up and had made sure the boys did the same, Perkins dished up some of his stew for the lads, and they ate it hungrily, all the while peppering Nick with questions ranging from the operation they had just witnessed to the care and feeding of boa constrictors, a matter on which Nick Perkins allowed he had no knowledge.
They would doubtless have remained longer, except that Anna, glancing out the window, noticed how low in the sky the sun had sunk.
“Oh, my goodness, we have been here much longer than I realized!” she exclaimed, standing up. “It won’t be long before the sun is setting.” She turned and looked at the boys, guilt clear on her face. “And your brother has no idea where you are. I am afraid that your relatives will be terribly worried.”
The twins considered this, and Alex said fairly, “Yes, they will probably worry—but not as much as you would think. They are accustomed to our staying out.”
“When did you leave the house?” Anna asked.
“Sometime this morning. Around ten, I think.”
“Oh, my. They will have every right to be angry. I must get you home right away.”
Her heart quailed a little inside at the thought that she might have to face Reed again, but she had to escort them to their house. They were unfamiliar with the country and had come to Nick’s house from the woods behind Holcomb Manor, not from Winterset, so they would have no chance of finding their way back alone. Well, she told herself, she would just have to steel herself to face him—and hope that she could manage to hand them over to their sister and avoid Reed altogether.
The boys got up without demur, bidding goodbye to their new friend Nick and politely requesting permission to come back to check on their patient’s progress. Anna hustled them out the door and headed toward Winterset.
She should have taken them back earlier, she knew. Of course, she had not known at the time that the boys had been gone
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