“Aunt Penny, I need your help. Out at the farm.”
“Is it the boy?”
“No. Yes. Sort of. Can you come quick?”
There was silence on the line. I hoped she heard how scared I was and would save the tongue-lashing for later. Robin and I had put his sister in my mother’s bed and given her some water. But she was burning up. Way too sick for me to figure out. Maybe I should have called the doctor, but I turned to the next best thing. Robin didn’t know. He was upstairs with her.
When he met Aunt Penny, I hoped he’d thank me.
Luckily, Aunt Penny can recognize real trouble. She said she’d close the store and come. I told her to bring all the medical supplies she had on the shelves.
She turned up with almost a whole drugstore. Aspirins, flu medicine, vapor rub, antiseptics, antibiotics, bandages and tape. I didn’t ask her where she got it all. She caught one whiff of the mystery woman and snapped her fingers at me.
“She has an infection. Get me all the cloths, cold water and ice you can spare, Ricky. We’ve got to get the fever down.”
Robin was hanging around the doorway, wide-eyed. She glared at him. “What happened to her?”
He just shook his head. Too scared to answer. I brought the ice and towels. Aunt Penny tossed the blankets on the floor and began pulling off the girl’s jacket. She howled. Aunt Penny turned instead to her trousers. She peeled off the fleece outer layer and then the long johns. The girl’s legs were like sticks. Aunt Penny sponged the sweat and dirt from her face and her neck. Then she laid a cold compress on her forehead and tilted her head to give her some water. She slipped a couple of pills into her mouth. The girl made a face. Shook her head weakly.
Aunt Penny washed her legs in the cool water and tried again to touch her jacket. The girl jerked away. Penny leaned toward her. “I have to take off your jacket, dear.”
I’d never heard my aunt talk so gently. Seen her touch so softly. The girl said nothing, but whimpered as Aunt Penny slowly removed her clothes. First a jacket, then a sweater of my mother’s and finally a fleece soaked with dirt, blood and rot. Underneath was one of my towels, stained yellow and black. The stink grew so strong I held my nose. Robin shook all over.
Finally, the wound was exposed. A raw purple hole in her side, partly healed but oozing yellow pus. Aunt Penny pursed her lips. She leaned in and sniffed. Shot a glance at Robin.
“Spruce gum. Who taught you that?”
Robin thrust out his chin. “She tell me.”
I knew what Aunt Penny was thinking. Spruce gum was traditional Indian medicine. Were these kids part Native? Or had they been raised on an isolated reserve? Robin clearly wasn’t saying, and Aunt Penny didn’t push it. Instead, she touched his arm.
“Well, it helped, but it’s not enough. Ricky, get me hot water and the antiseptic soap.”
I brought a big bowl. Gave her more clean cloths. Watched as she dabbed at the wound. The girl shrieked.
“Hold her hands,” Penny said. She stayed so calm. Slowly she soaked away the dried pus and blood. Washed it again and again. Dried it. Poured alcohol over it and then peered at it. In the long silence, there was nothing but the girl’s moans.
Then Aunt Penny turned on Robin, no longer soft. “This is a bullet hole. Ricky, call the police.”
“No!” It was the girl who shrieked. Loud. Fierce. I stopped halfway to the door.
“You’ve been shot,” Penny said. “You need a doctor.”
“No, you fix it.”
“I can’t fix it.”
“No doctors. No police. Please!”
The girl spoke English better than Robin, but with the same odd accent. She was trying to sit up, and the wound was oozing again. Aunt Penny tried to calm her.
“You have to stay still.”
“No police! Promise!”
“Okay. For now. I will wash the rest of you and bandage this so you can rest.”
Aunt Penny sent Robin and me away while she finished up. When she finally came downstairs, I was preparing chicken soup. She tried to be gentle with Robin, but I knew she was angry. Maybe even scared. Not much scares Aunt Penny.
“Someone shot your sister, Robin. I think the bullet went straight through, but it’s not healing well. This is serious.”
“An accident. A hunter, in woods. Shooting at deer.”
“It’s not deer-hunting season yet.”
Robin froze.
“The police must—”
“No! Please! Accident, is all. I clean. I take good care.”
Aunt Penny gave him a long look. Her lips were tight. But she kept her voice soft. “Yes, you did, dear. Now take this soup up to her.”
After he’d gone, she reached for the phone.
I dived to stop her. “What are you doing!”
“Calling Jessica Swan.”
“But…” I sputtered. Floundered. “You promised him—”
“I promised him nothing. There’s more to this. That little slip of a girl up there? She’s borne a child.”