Can you stand up, mister? Come on, let me help you. Let‘s get you inside so we can help you clean up. You must be hungry. I bet you‘d like something to eat. We‘ve got fresh salmon. Did you smell it cooking? Would you like some?

He seemed to calm down again. Kate continued her un demanding patter as Old Sam went back to the house to rack the rifle and returned to help haul the man to trembling legs. He was taller than Kate but shorter than Old Sam. He moved in an awkward and disjointed fashion, with no sense of balance, so that he would lurch from Kate to Old Sam and back again, walking as if his feet hurt him. From the look of them Kate thought they had to. There didn‘t seem to be a square inch of any part of him left whole.

Together the three of them navigated a careful path to the house. The stairs were negotiated with the maximum amount of difficulty. When they got him inside they found that Auntie Vi had been busy. She‘d covered one of the dining table chairs with a sheet and directed them to ease him down onto it. She‘d found some leftover moose stew in the refrigerator, pureed it in the blender, and poured it into a saucepan to heat. She thinned it with some instant beef broth and poured it into a mug.

She brought it steaming to the table, where Kate and Old Sam had been working with clean sponges and a bowl of warm water to clear some of the crusts from the man‘s more serious wounds. This guy needs the docs, Kate said.

Old Sam, lips compressed in a grim line, shook his head. He needs an emergency room.

He maybe not make it that far, Auntie Vi said. It was what they were all thinking. It wasn‘t just his eyes, his whole face was swollen, and as they cleared away the blood and the dirt they could see hard angry lumps on his arms and legs as well. Jesus, the mosquitoes really got to him, Old Sam said.

The man made a sudden swipe with his hand and Kate ducked to avoid being hit. He slapped again, and this time Old Sam caught his hand in a firm grip. Hey, buddy, he said. Calm down. You‘re fine. No bugs in here.

The man opened his mouth and made an effort. Aaar, he said.

Kate‘s eyes met Old Sam‘s. For some reason, the man‘s inability to speak shook them both more than anything that had come before.

Maybe we should just put him in the tub, Kate said.

Only get him into tub one time, Auntie Vi said. Clean off first much as we can. He‘s in shock, Old Sam said. Should we get him wet?

Clean feel better, Auntie Vi said. Half the battle.

Holly Haynes wasn‘t much use. Every now and then Auntie Vi would give her a chore, like go get another sponge or warm up some more broth, but mostly she hovered and got in the way. She might have been hell on wheels as a geologist but she wasn‘t much for first aid. Kate, looking up once, saw her face. She looked frightened, and sick, but then they all felt like that.