Page 37 of Cloaked in Beauty

Dennis clenched his jaw and nodded.

Slowly, they got him up. Dennis grunted as he rose and drew his knees in to sit cross-legged as he curled forward.

Glad to see him moving his legs on his own, Philip peered over the boy’s shoulder to scan his back for any sign of injury. Dirt caked his shirt, but he didn’t see any stains that looked like blood.

“How’s your head?”

“It hurts,” Dennis admitted, his eyes squinting against the sunlight, “but not as much as my arm.”

“Well, we’re going to get that arm splinted for you. Should help keep it stabilized, though I can’t promise it will make it hurt less.” Philip pulled his hands away from the boy, checking to ensure he remained upright. “I’m going to hunt up some wood to use for that splint, all right?”

“Yessir.”

The kid’s voice didn’t exactly brim with confidence, but he wasn’t weaving about like someone fixing to topple, so Philip chose to trust his word. A young man’s pride could be a powerful motivator, and Dennis struck him as a lad eager to prove his manhood.

“How old are you, Dennis?” Philip asked as he wandered along the creek bed behind them, searching for a pair of suitable sticks.

“I’ll be eleven in January.”

Philip grinned at the boy’s attempt to make himself seem older. He remembered what it was like to be in a hurry to grow up. Believing that being older would provide more control over one’s life. More freedom. Too bad all that freedom came with a heap of responsibility, disillusionment, and weariness. Philip was only twenty-seven, but even he longed for the carefree days of childhood on occasion. For the idealism and simplicity that used to mark his days.

“Almost eleven, huh?” Philip picked up a stick and bent it between his hands to test its strength. It snapped. He tossed it aside. “I remember being eleven. Couldn’t keep me away from the fishin’ hole in those days.” He picked up another stick. Kind of rough and not completely straight, but it passed the bend test without breaking. He tucked it under his arm. “You fish?”

“Some. I like huntin’ better. Pa said he’d buy me my own gun when I turn twelve.”

“Did he? That’s a big deal.”

Philip spied a fallen branch that had likely gotten swept downstream the last time they had a big rain. It stretched across the narrow creek. He jogged over to it and used his boot to snap off a nice straight limb. Dropping his previous find, he tested the sturdiness of the new piece. Just green enough to keep from snapping under normal pressure but dry enough that he could break the thinner end with his boot if he put his weight into it. He broke off two pieces, each about a foot long, cleaned off the excess twigs and dried leaves, then jogged back to Dennis and measured them against the boy’s arm. Not perfect, but they’d do.

“What’s the biggest game you ever brought down?” Philip asked, hoping to keep the boy distracted.

He opened his medical satchel and pulled out a roll of bandages.

“A deer.” Dennis winced and hissed in a breath when Philip stretched the broken arm away from the boy’s body to apply the splint.

“Wow. I didn’t get my first deer until I was twelve. I’m impressed.”

He prodded Dennis for more details as he tied the splint pieces in place. The kid obliged, though most of his answers were short and clipped due to the pain. Once Philip had the splint secured, he wrapped the entire appendage in a second bandage, then tied off the end.

“All right, Dennis. Let’s stand up. I want to wrap your ribs before we start our climb.”

Dennis gave a dubious glance toward the rope hanging down into the ravine. “I, uh, don’t think I’m going to be able to make that climb, mister.”

Philip smiled. “Not to worry, kid. I’m going to do all the climbing. All you gotta do is ride along.” He motioned for Dennis to hold up his shirt with his good arm, then wrapped his ribs nice and tight. “Your pa ever give you a piggyback ride?”

“Yessir.”

“We’re going to do the same. Only I’m going to use this blanket as sort of a sling to help you stay on, since you only have one good arm at the moment.”

Philip used his knife to slit the corners of the blanket to make it easier to tie strong knots. He tied the bottom corners together around his waist, then flipped the top portion over one shoulder and wrapped the edges around his hand to keep the blanket in place. The sling flopped loosely behind him. He and Dennis walked as far as they could toward the waiting rope, then stopped so Dennis could climb into the sling.

Hunkering down low, Philip used the ravine wall to steady himself as Dennis ducked inside the blanket and wrapped his good arm around Philip’s neck. When the boy’s legs tightened around his waist, Philip pushed to a standing position.

“Hold tight with those legs, all right?” Philip separated the top blanket corners, pulled the excess fabric taut over Dennis’s back, then tied the edges together. He slipped his right arm through the hole to keep the sling from choking him if Dennis lost his grip. “This should make it easier for you to hold on, but the more you help, the easier it will be for me to climb.”

“I’ll hold on, mister. Don’t you worry.”

Philip grinned. Sounded like Dennis wasn’t too sure about the sling idea. Philip didn’t blame him. The thing was far from comfortable and probably looked ridiculous. Nevertheless, he felt better having the extra security, and maybe it would help keep him from jostling Dennis too badly. That arm of his needed all the stability they could wrangle.