Morning found Andi slumbering peacefully. She had thrown herself down by the fire a few minutes before, utterly worn out. She had been up all night attempting to keep Cory's fever down and changing the poultice on Taffy's leg.

 Suddenly Andi woke with a start. She scrambled up and felt Cory's forehead. It was still burning hot. She then checked Taffy's leg and gasped. It had swelled to over three times its normal size. She swallowed hard and turned away.

 As she ate breakfast she kept trying to come up with a solution. Cory needed food inside him, but the only thing he could have eaten was soup. With no soup on hand Andi was at a loss for what to do. Andi didn't have any experience in cooking because she had always been eager to be outside.

 Well, she thought. I am going to have to try to make some.

 She filled her tin lunch pail with water and left the cave to find some wild onions. She chopped them, green part included, and put them in. She took odds and ends from the food that she had bought and threw them in.

 Finally she left the cave and gathered some berries and put them in too. She put the can over the fire and waited for it to become hot.

 She checked Taffy's leg and sighed with relief when she noticed that the swelling was going down.

 She turned and caught sight of her soup boiling over the side of the pail and rushed to it. She removed it from the fire and tasted it.

 She made a face and hastily took a sip of water to wash the horrible taste from her mouth. "This is disgusting," she said to no one in particular.

 She hastily emptied the pail and sat on the floor in defeat. Come on, she said to herself, You just have to try again.

  She rose wearily from the ground and refilled the pail. She rummaged through Cory's food and gave a cry of delight when she found some potatoes. She cut them and put them in. She left the cave again to forage for something to put in the soup.

 After searching fruitlessly for awhile she found a little patch of herbs. She hastily gathered some and hurried back to the cave to get out of the rain.

 She glanced at Cory in concern as he thrashed and muttered feverishly.

 She turned back to her soup. In a little while it was complete. This time it actually tasted rather good when she tried it.

 It was quite an ordeal trying to spoon the soup down his throat.

 She waited for awhile and tended to Taffy's leg. The swelling was almost gone.

 Suddenly she heard a movement behind her. "Andi," she heard Cory call weakly.

 "Cory, how do you feel," she said rushing to his side.

 "Horrible. My stomach hurts and my head aches something terrible. I'm freezing, too."

 "Well that isn't just you I am pretty cold, too."

 "Andi, we need to go for help."

 "But we can't cross the river."

 "We'll go the other way."

 How? You aren't strong enough to sit on a horse."

 "Tie me to it," he whispered in a hoarse voice.

 She gathered up their belongings and put them on the horses. After leading the horses outside she helped Cory up and they staggered to his horse. With great difficulty he mounted and they began their journey.

 That evening after not having been able to find anybody they stopped for the night.

 As Andi lay under the tree she couldn't go to sleep. She was overcome with guilt. Will they ever forgive me? she thought. Will we ever make it back home?

                                             [Read Chapter 5]