Chapter Fourteen
It was many hours before The Old Healer finally hurried into the village. He entered The Brother's House, grabbed some bread, meat, and tea, as he examined the wound.
2 "I'd like to get some rest," he said, "but we can't wait. Put him to sleep. We may be too late, now." 3 He stripped to his waist, washed, took a boiled robe from his case, and put it on, laid out his instruments and lifted up a scalpel. 4 There was a sudden ominous rumbling from the door, and the Healer jumped. "Good merciful Lords!" he cried, "That dog's alive!" 5 "Yes," answered Swift Fox, "he brought Nameless Fox back from the wildness on his back, and he seems very protective of him!"
6 "I thought he was stuffed!" the Healer announced. He turned to the dog. "You," he commanded, "Lay down, and be quiet! I'm not hurting him, I have to do this. Lay down!"
7 The dog looked at the Healer with questioning eyes, but he backed up and laid down. The Healer went to work. "Lords be praised," he explained, "this artery was slashed and not cut through. It's the only thing that saved his life, and, his leg. If I can repair this damage and stop this infection, we've got a chance, but it's going to be close."
8 For several hours he worked. "I'm only going to partially close this wound," he continued, "it has to drain. We'll close it up completely, later. Now it is up to the medicine, and, The Lords! We're going to need all the prayers we can get!"
9 They lifted Nameless Fox and carefully carried him to his own bed. The dog followed, and chose a spot outside of Nameless Fox's window, and would not be moved. Every time Nameless Fox cried out in his sleep, the dog came to the window, assured himself he was safe, and laid back down.
10 At first the villagers were afraid of the dog, but when he paid no attention to them, they began to ignore him. Swift Fox, though, and some of the other men, took pity on him in the hot sun and attached an old tent to the roof of Nameless Fox's house, stretched it out, and put poles on it so it gave the dog the shade. They also brought him food and water daily.
11 For as long as Nameless Fox lay in the Dark Sleep, between life and death, the dog would not leave hm. There were three people in the house night and day with Yellow Blossom, as was the village custom. They would stay until the sick person either got well, or, joined The Lords. But finally, one night, Nameless Fox's fever broke and he went into a normal sleep.
12 The Healer examined him the next morning and told the people to go home. It would be a long struggle but he would eventually walk again.
13 That morning for the first time, the dog left the village, disappeared into the woods to do his own huntiing. The villagers thought that would be the last that they would see of him, but just before dusk he trotted through the gate, took up his usual place, and went to sleep.
14 Through the weeks and months that followed, as Nameless Fox slowly recovered, this was the dog's normal routine. He became such a part of the village that people hardly noticed him.
15 One evening he failed to return at nightfall, and the gatekeeper shut the gate, as usual. But awhile later, a tremendous banging started on the gate, and the old man took his lantern, climbed the tower, and looked over. The dog sat on the other side of the gate looking up at him with a disgusted expression. He banged the gate again with a huge paw. "All right!" the gatekeeper cried, "I'm coming! I'm coming! Wait a minute!"
16 He opened the gate and the dog trotted through. As the old man shut the gate the dog turned around and kissed him. "All right," said the gatekeeper, "All right! I like you, too!" the dog trotted off. "Wow!" thought the gatekeeper, "the next time he kisses me, I hope he hasn't been eating a skunk!"
17 Everyone in the vicinity of Nameless Fox's house became quite aware of what the dog's meal had been! The next morning the odor drifted into the kitchen as Yellow Blossom worked. But she was too busy to pay it much heed.
18 She had just taken Nameless Fox his breakfast, when she suddenly noticed their son wasn't in the kitchen. She bolted through the kitchen door, and sure enough, her worst fears were realized. The child was stainding inches from the great dog's jaws, banging him on the nose. "You smell bad!" the little boy was crying. "You bad! You need bath!"
19 Yellow Blossom crept up, grabbed the child from behind, and pulled him away, then gave him a swift slap on his backsides. "You do not hit people or animals," she told him. "That is wrong!" As any child would do, he began to cry, and the dog began to emit a low growl. "And you be quiet, too!" Yellow Blossom told him. "He's my child, and I will not allow him to be abusive! Lay down!"
20 The dog backed off, the great head sank down, and he watched Yellow Blossom and the baby retreat. Yellow Blossom entered the house, shut the door behind her, leaned against it, and let out a deep sigh.
21 The woman who was helping her tend Nameless Fox came away from the window. "He acts so much like a person," she said, "I swear he understands what we say! Look at him! He's out there sulking like a child!"
22 Yellow Blossom looked out the window. "Nameless says he is like a big child," she remarked, "I'm so afraid of
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