"I've got it!" Nan exclaimed excitedly, shooting up to a standing position, clapping both hands. "We can play doc, an' I have to save you all...how 'bout deadly snake bites?"

"How exciting, Nan," Bess said, less than enthusiastic. "And how, exactly, do you plan on saving us?"

"I'll make a poultice."

"A poultice?" Nat questioned inquisitively.

"Deadly snake bites? Nan, I'm not getting bitten by a deadly snake just so you can have the fun of attempting to save us with a questionable poultice. Besides, I'm too young to die," Bess finished, casting a sideways glance at Nan.

"I don't think she means ya have to go lookin' in the woods, Bess. Just imagine it," Emil said, in his usual tone, "if you can handle that?"

Dan fixed the boy a steady scowl.

"What kind of poultice?" Tommy looked doubtful.

"I dunno. I'll just... find some leaves, an' maybe some mud," Nan explained, thinking it an exceptional idea. She was good! "So, what d'ya say?"

Nat, having a special spot, hesitantly consented. "I-I'll do it."

She beamed, "Good!"

"Well, I'm not letting you put that disgusting stuff on my skin," Bess said, standing up. "Catching a bug is one thing, but I have my limits."

Nan sighed, though not at all astonished. Bess could be so feminine sometimes.

"Ya can count me out," Dan added, getting to his feet to join Bess. "You ain't puttin' that on me."

"Chicken," Emil taunted.

"Yeah, well, I don't wanna wake up dead 'cause Nan's li'l poultice was poisonous," Dan shot back.

Tommy's eyes opened wide. "Poisonous?!?"

"No, it ain't gonna be poisonous," Nan was quick to add.

"I'm not a chicken," Emil announced, "I'll do it."

Tommy, always anxious to be with the "big boys", quickly complied, "So will I."

"I ain't sealin' my fate," Dan said in a mockingly solemn tone, taking Bess's elbow as they walked back to the house.

*

"Sit still, Tommy," Nan scolded, "You'll mess it all up." She had found some shiny leaves down by the lake, and it had made quite a nice poultice-especially once she had mixed it with mud.

"I'm gettin' sticky," he complained.

"We've got Nan's goo on," Emil pointed out, none too kindly.

Nat scowled softly. "Knock it off, Emil," he said, almost timidly. He didn't like the boy teasing Nan about wishing to become a physician.

"Ooh, I'm shakin' in my boots," Emil shot back, though kept quiet as soon as he got his last comment out. Nan's poultice was beginning to stiffen, and he wanted to itch!

"Now, all we gotta do is wait awhile 'til the poultice pulls the venom to the top," she announced, dusting both hands once she had finished with Tommy. Nan gave the boys a wide, somewhat smug smile, "Sixty minutes, and you'll all be as good as new; completely healed..."

*

As she said, Nan washed the shiny leaf and mud poultice sixty minutes following the time when she had put it on.

"This is cold!" Emil snapped, pulling his head away as she loomed above him with a wet dishtowel in hand.

Nan held him still. "Such a baby," she said, wiping his cheek. "Don't you want it off?"

"Fine!" Emil conceded and quit moving about.

"Good." She quickly washed it off, all the while massaging the gooey concoction into his skin. "Nat's the only one who didn't complain," she said, giving Nat a smile. He was so sweet.

Nat blushed.

"Now what do we gotta do?" Tommy asked, slapping his neck.

"Take it easy," Nan said, as any medical physician would. "The snake bites will still make you weak."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Emil sniped, "We'll be so weak. I'm not doing that again!" He hastened to get to his feet, speaking to Nat and Tommy. "I'm goin' swimmin'. Want to come along?"

Tommy's eyes lit up. "I'm comin'!"

"Naw, I'll stay with Nan," Nat said. And, with that, Emil and Tommy headed off into the woods.

*

"I'm dying! Miss Jo, I'm dying!" Tommy's shouts echoed down the hall, making even Asia, who was cooking in the kitchen, jump.

Emil bolted up, eyes wide, though still half asleep.

"Tommy!" Jo exclaimed, almost diving into his bed as she caught a foot on the boy's boot, lying in the middle of the path. "What's happened?"

"I'm dyin'," he squealed in a panicked tone, "I'm dyin'!" As if to back up his announcement, he pushed up the sleeve of his nightshift, exposing the agitated skin on his hands, neck, face, and elbows.

"What did you do?"

"It's Nan's poultice," he continued to wail, "It's killed me. Dan knew it all along!"

Now fully awake, Emil pushed up his own sleeve, a look of panic on his own face. "I'm dying, too!"

Just then, Nan stumbled in, asking, "What's he yellin' at?" with a wild-eyed Bess falling close behind.

"Nan, what was in the poultice you made?" Jo demanded, touching a hand to Tommy's flushed cheek.

Dan watched silently, suddenly thankful that he had not gone along with the physician-want-to-be's little scheme.

"Some shiny ol' leaves an' some mud, that's all," she said simply, still not finding anything to be so panicked about.

"Show me the leaves you used," Jo said in a no-nonsense tone, leaving Nan no choice but hasten and collect the "supplies" that had been put into the concoction.

"These," she said, upon coming back. "I got them-"

"Nan!" Jo cut in, own eyes widening, "That's poison ivy!"

THE END