“I’ll have to come by for a drink.” Lucas checked the pulse in Alf’s foot. It was steady, if a little fast, which meant there wasn’t serious damage to the blood vessels.

After he finished his examination, he said, “Your knee has been partially dislocated, which is not wonderful, but it’s better than a complete dislocation. Next time, try to drop the barrel on your shoulder. Dislocations are more common there and more easily fixed. Though they still hurt like merry Hades.”

Alf tried to smile. “The shoulder it is next time.”

Lucas rested both hands around the knee and visualized the healing energy that sometimes blessed his treatments. Pure white light that flowed through him from some higher place, entering his hands and passing into the mangled knee.

“Your hands are warm,” Alf choked out.

“All the better for fixing your knee. Martin, could you stand at the head of the table and hold both of Alf’s hands? This next part will be quick but very painful.”

“Worse than now?” Alf asked in a shaky voice.

“Yes, the dislocated bone needs to be moved back into place as soon as possible. It took a lot of pressure to displace that bone, and it will take a lot of pressure to return it to its proper position. But it will be over in a few moments.”

Once Martin had a firm grasp on his brother’s hands, Lucas applied the necessary force to reposition the bone. It took strength to be a bonesetter, and as Frère Emmanuel had become increasingly frail, Lucas eventually did all of this sort of work.

Pressure, white light . . .

Alf screamed in agony, his body jerking up from the table, but between them, Martin and Lucas kept him from falling off. The scream diminished into anguished panting as Lucas continued to rest his hands on the knee. “It should feel better now.”

Alf exhaled roughly. “It does. A lot better. Still hurts, though!”

“That’s because the ligaments that bind the leg bones together have been wrenched about. The knee will have to be splinted for a time so you can’t move it. After the splint comes off, you should use a wrap around the knee to reduce the strain, and you should carefully exercise the joint to help it regain strength and stability. If you do that and all goes well, you should make a good recovery.”

Laurel’s soft voice said, “We have a couple of nurses who have developed exercises to help a damaged limb regain function as it heals.”

Lucas hadn’t realized she was still in the room, but he imagined she had wanted to see him work. She moved forward, her hands full. “I sent for opium to ease the pain and materials to splint the knee.”