Penny ran to her. “You’re hurt!” she whispered. “Bitten by a snake?”
Mrs. Jones shook her head, biting her lip to keep back the tears. She pointed to her ankle, caught beneath a tree root.
“I stumbled and wrenched it ’most off,” she murmured. “Hit’s a bad sprain and I’m afeared I can’t go on.”
CHAPTER
21
THE TUNNEL OF LEAVES
Penny raised the woman to her feet, but as Mrs. Jones tried to take a step, she saw that the sprain indeed was a bad one.
Already the ankle was swelling and skin had been broken. At each attempted step, the widow winced with pain, suffering intensely.
“If I kin only git back to the boat, I’ll be all right,” she said, observing Penny’s worried expression. “Drat it all! Jest when I wanted to find out what the Hawkins’ are doin’ on this island!”
Supporting much of the widow’s weight on her shoulders, Penny helped her back to the skiff.
“I guess we may as well start back,” she said, unable to hide her bitter disappointment.
The widow reached for an oar, then looked keenly at Penny and put it back again.