Chapter 34

• All day at the Daniels’ homestead, the fever that gnawed at Jack’s fragile body grew perceptibly worse. That night, the family gathered in a quiet, tension-filled consultation. The low murmur of worried voices filled the small room as they debated the grim prospects.
• “They’ve got to be somethin’ done,” Ricky declared firmly, his eyes burning with resolve. “Tomorrow, I’m ridin’ into town to get hold of Doc Geary.”
• Mrs. Daniels, her tone dismissive and laced with scorn, countered, “There’s no use of that fraud Geary. If the boy can be saved, I could do it just as well as any doctor. But there ain’t no man who can cure Jack_ not his wound, but the fever in his mind.”