Mary's consciousness returned with the touch of a cool cloth on her forehead. At first she couldn't remember what had happened or where she was. Feeling grass beneath her arms and legs, she opened her eyes. What was she doing lying on the ground? Jewel's anxious face swam above her, eyes streaming with tears. Mary's head began to clear. Suddenly she remembered. She began to scream again, scrambling to get up.

"It's all right, Mary." Jewel held her tightly. "The dog is dead. You're safe."

"Where's Billy?" Mary cried. "And Daddy and Russell? Is Billy all right?"

Jewel bit her lip and looked away, fighting to control her emotions.

"Jewel!" Mary screamed. "Answer me! Where's Billy? What's happened to him? Where is everybody?"

"Mary, listen, honey." Jewel tried to calm her sister. "Billy will be just fine. Russell and Daddy have taken him to the hospital."

"To the hospital! What happened? Did the dog bite him?" Mary shook so hard her teeth chattered. She felt sick and dizzy. Her stomach heaved.

"Yes, Mary, the dog bit him." Jewel began crying again. Mary jumped up and ran for the toilet. Jewel raced after her. She heard Mary retching. Leaning against the toilet, she hugged herself, shivering in the heat of the summer afternoon. Mary finally came out, ghostly pale, lips beaded with sweat.

"Will -- will he die, Jewel?" she whispered. "Do you think Billy will die?"

"No! No, Mary. Billy won't die. Now don't you even think such a thing!" But Jewel wasn't sure. She'd learned about rabieshydrophobia-in health class. Schools in town were better equipped, with projectors and moving films, than the little one-room country schoolhouse. She faintly recalled a movie about hydrophobia in which several men held down a friend who shook with convulsions.

The man's companions tried to force a drink of water through his clenched teeth. He turned wild, jerking from their grasp and sending the cup flying. Jewel could still see the mans glazed, bulging eyes and big drops of sweat that ran down his face as he thrashed and fought to free himself from his friends hands. Was there a cure? She couldn't remember. The film had seemed unimportant at the time, just scary and unbelievable.

Oh, God, she prayed, God, please help Billy!

Mary stood in deep thought, trying to recall what had happened before she fainted. She remembered Billy running behind the dog, swinging the scythe, and Russell aiming the gun. Had he fired it? She couldnt remember hearing it go off. "Jewel, did Russell shoot the dog?" she asked.

"No, Mary, he didn't. He was afraid he'd shoot you or Billy, and Billy was afraid he'd hit you with the scythe if he swung it so close to you, so he just dropped it and lunged. He grabbed the dog by the hind legs just as it leaped for you. If you hadn't fainted and fell, it would probably have got your face. It turned on Billy and latched onto his jaw. Russell hit it in the back with the gun butt, and it let go and turned toward him. That's when he got a good hard lick in and hit the dog in the head and killed it."

"Where is the dog?" Mary asked, looking around as if afraid the rabid animal had come back to stalk them.

"Daddy and Russell put it in the back of the pickup and took it with them so it could be tested to be sure it was mad. But it had to be."

Mary knew Jewel was right. The dog had acted the same as Grandma Creel's old dog, Patches, when he'd attacked Grandpop in the spring. Mary suddenly recalled something Grandma Creel said when Grandpop warned her not to touch the dead dog. "But Jewel!" she cried. "Grandma Creel said if you got the dog's spit in your blood, you'd die! If the dog bit Billy, didn't its spit get mixed up in his blood? Billy will die, won't he?"

She began to cry hysterically, clutching her stomach and doubling over in pain. Baby Floyd and Walter. She could barely remember them. And then Mama. Now Billy. Not Billy, too! She loved him so much! They were so close!

"Don't cry, Mary." Jewel begged. "I can't remember too well, but I think there's a shot or something they can give Billy to keep him from getting the rabies. Please, don't cry!" She rocked Mary in her arms. "Come on, let's go to the house and put the food away, unless you want something to eat."

"I'm not hungry, Jewel," Mary said. She didn't think she would ever be hungry again.

"Me neither, Mary. I hope someone comes pretty soon and tells us something about Billy. I'm so scared! Mary? Do you think we should pray?"

"I think I'd feel better if we did, Jewel. And lets pray for Daddy, too. I bet he's nearly scared out of his mind!"

If Mary could have seen her father, she would have known just how true her words were. Bud had asked Russell to drive to the hospital, with Billy in between them. Hugging his sons head against his shoulder, he held a clean cloth over Billys jagged wound to staunch the flow of blood. Staring woodenly out the windshield as the truck rocked over the rutted road, trying to cushion his son from the jarring ride he whispered, "Hold on, baby Floyd. Youre gonna be all right. Mama and I are gonna get you some help. Just hold on a little while longer."