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others they were all looking relieved to have the healer take charge of the situation. Other than Pell, no one appeared to doubt the healer’s ability to fix Gontra’s finger. With dismay, Pell recognized that, tenuous as his own situation was, he’d best not express any opinion s regarding Pont’s abilities.
    The hunters fell to hacking the boar up into pieces small enough to carry back. Somehow Pell was not surprised to find that he had been assigned to carry the intestines. Everyone else was packed up and had started back before he finished squeezing out their contents and had coiled them into some kind of a mess that he could carry. He thought to himself that it was good thing summer wasn’t here; he’d be covered with flies. Of course , during the good hunting of summer they usually didn’t bother with intestines. He set out, up into the little valley leading back to the Aldans’ cave, hiking rapidly to catch up with the others.
    When they came in sight of the cave the women saw them carrying haunches of boar and began to celebrate. Then Tonday cried out and came running out toward the group. She had seen that Gontra wasn’t carrying anything, rather just shambling along holding his one hand in the other. She took in the drugged look in Gontra’s eyes and began wailing even before looking at his finger. Gontra tried to console her in his own gruff way, but even in his glazed over state, his own apprehension was easily evident. In a few minutes, Tonday’s hysterics degenerated. S he half lay, half sat at Gontra’s feet , tearing at her hair. The other women and children came out to the group and soon Gontra and Tonday’s little daughter Tila was adding her own hysteria to the mix . Though she was too little to understand what was wrong, she readily picked up her mother’s distress.
    Pont’s woman Lessa sat down with Tonday and began to comfort her, stroking her hair and singing one of her soothing chants. Pont soon thereafter marched Gontra up to the cave and laid him out on the furs that he and Lessa shared. Lessa brought a still sobbing Tonday up a little later. Pell found himself assigned to slicing up the intestines he had carried back. This was a tedious job but he managed to situate himself so that he could watch what the healer was doing with Gontra.
    When Gontra seemed deeply under the influence of Pont’s hemp concoction, the healer began to examine his finger. Pell was relieved to see that the finger was maintaining a good color. Pont wiggled it around a little, looking at it from different angles, then he grasped it and pulled vigorously. Gontra woke immediately from his sleep with incoherent eyes wide in agony. He flailed around, striking the healer repeatedly on the back, then finally shoving Pont violently aside. All eyes, attracted by the commotion, now focused on Gontra’s finger. It remained deformed! Pell felt a sick feeling rising in his throat. He thought to himself that Pont had just pulled straight. With both Pell’s finger and the rabbit’s leg, Pell had first bent the member even farther in the direction of its deformity before being able to slip it back into place. “Pont…” he ventured.
    Pont looked up at Pell with a murderous expression in his beady eyes. Pell found his words dying in his throat. Sheepishly he went back to cutting up the intestine.
    Pont sat back down next to Gontra who lay dozing again. Pell realized that Pont had been careful to position himself between Pell and Gontra to obstruct Pell’s view. Pont began to chant and took a little of his hemp mixture himself. Pell continued to work on his task while he contemplated the strange paradox that required that the deformity be made worse before it could be made better. He wondered whether the healer might kno w about the phenomenon and would therefore try that maneuver next. His reveries were interrupted by another episode of flailing and screaming from Gontra. This episode again ended with the healer bowled