As soon as Papa noticed us, he came around the house to help us get out.
"Nannie, drive Dale up in the yard, and I'll hitch him to this corner post. It's a good thing you brought this dry stovewood, 'cause when I got here, there wasn't a stick cut. I finally got Ned to chop kindling for both fireplaces."
"Jodie, what have you found out?"
"Not much, yet. You remember Miss Dink's half-brother, Mister Hiram?"
"Of course. He was the man who brought Bandershanks home."
"Well, Uncle Hiram, as they call him, found Ward early this morning, lying down yonder below the barn, about halfway between the barn and the woods."
Papa kept talking as he lifted Mama down to the ground. "Uncle Hiram couldn't tell if Ward was dead or not, he said. So he hobbled across the field quick as he could to Ned's. He got Ned and some of his boys to help tote Ward to the house. He sent Ned's oldest boy to Ralph Ware's to phone for the doctor, and he got Ned to run and tell Wes and Lida Belle. 'Course it was pretty soon after that when Wes phoned me, like I told you."
"Yeah. Then what?"
"Ralph said he never could get the doctor."
Papa helped me down. When my feet touched the ground, they felt so stiff I had to grab Mama's skirt to keep from falling.