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Page 289
ground, weeping hysterically.
She would be of no assistance. Besides, Abby did not wish for her to know how she would attempt to save Arlen. "Go back to the wagons quickly, Lucy, and bring me a filled canteen. I will require water to save Arlen's life."
"Can you?" her sister cried through her tears.
"Only if you hurry."
Without a further word, Lucy rose and, holding her full skirt, ran toward the wagons.
Abby got busy. Reaching into her bag beneath the fossil rock, she pulled out the small, orange plastic box. She scanned the instructions, although she felt certain she recalled what to do. She swabbed Arlen's skin, gave him an injection, put a tourniquet about his arm. She placed the pills into her hand and thrust the entire box back into the bag as Lucy returned.
"Here," she said, thrusting the canteen at Abby.
Abby placed the pills into Arlen's mouth with water, then forced him to swallow. For want of tweezers, she used her short fingernails to pinch out the stinger. Then she sat on the ground to wait.
Arlen gasped for breath. Oh, what Abby would do for an ambulance full of paramedics! But there were only she and the small box she had brought.
As quickly as the attack started, it was over. Reminiscent of Mike all those years in the future, yet several weeks ago to Abby, Arlen began to breathe more easily. His color improved. Still, he continued to wheeze more than Mike had, and

 
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