By noon, Dan and Mrs. Jo still had not returned, so Nat, Jack, Emil, and Franz set out to find them. Nick wanted to go along, but his feet were not in a condition to be walking and Asia would not let him.
The boys started out in the general direction that Jo and Dan had gone, but they hadn't gone far when they saw the two coming toward them, pulling a travois along behind them. When the two groups met, the boys saw that Joe was on the travois, white faced and unconscious. Seeing that Dan and Jo were nearly exhausted, Nat and Franz pulled the makeshift sled the rest of the way to Plumfield. Once there, they unloaded Joe and Jack rode for the doctor. The rest of the crew at Plumfield gathered around as Joe was carried back to his room and laid gently on the bed. Even Nick hobbled in to see him.
Jo swished them all out however, except Nan and Asia, and proceeded to help them care for the boy. Nan, however, knowing how tired Jo was, protested.
"Mrs. Jo, you need to sit down." she said, taking a basin of hot water out of Jo's hands.
"What? I'm perfectly fine." Jo replied, even as she almost tripped over her own feet and fell to the floor. Asia steadied her and led her to a chair.
"No, Nan's right. You're too tired, Mrs. Bhaer. Nan and I can take care of him." She said, indicating Joe's still form. "No, you stay there." She reiterated, pushing Joe back down as she tried to rise. Jo, feeling the exhaustion of the night and day's ordeal, finally conceded and sat back in her chair, enjoying the warmth of the fire as she watched Nan and Asia begin on Joe.
Nan gasped when she saw the shape Joe's arm was in. Shaking her head, she pulled back the wrapping that Dan and Jo had put on it to help slow the bleeding. "This is bad." She stated, soaking a clean rag in the warm water and beginning to dab at the wound.
"Yes it is." Asia agreed.
The doctor agreed as well when he got there an hour later. After examining the arm, he said gravely to Jo, "He's lost quite a bit of blood. I'm going to have to redo the setting I already did on his arm. I hope he can stand the shock."
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All of Plumfield was alert that day, listening for any sound from the room where the doctor was setting Joe's arm. He came down around dusk, and the boys and Bess (Nan and Asia helped with the setting) instantly surrounded him, clamoring for a report. Holding up his hand to ebb the flow of questions coming at him, the doctor smiled and said, "He's going to be fine. I reset his arm, and, although he's still very weak from loss of blood and shock, he'll make it."
A round of relieved sighs and smiles greeted this news and the doctor bid a happy group farewell.
They ate supper soon after the doctor left, then Franz shooed them all off to bed. Everyone was exhausted from the events of the day, and the night, before and went without much protest. Only Dan and Nat stayed up later, protesting that they weren't tired when Franz confronted them. He relented and the three boys sat in the front room with Nick, enjoying the heat of the fire and the quietness of the household. Nan had long since gone to bed and Asia was sitting with Joe and Jo, who was fast asleep in the chair she had been placed in hours before.
"So, what's going to happen to Joe now?" asked Nat, looking at Nick.
Nick, sitting in a easy chair with his head back, looking at the fire, thought about Nat's question for a second. "I guess we'll turn him over to the authorities as soon as he's well enough." he said finally, raising his head and glancing at the boys in turn.
Nat nodded, looking down at the ground, and the room fell silent once more. No one spoke again until Nat, catching sight of Dan falling asleep in his chair, rose with a sigh and awakened his friend. "Come on, Dan. Let's go to bed."