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Aimee let out a howl of pain, hopping around on one foot. Suddenly, Ammo was there. He appeared out of nowhere, grabbing hold of her and lifting her into the air.

“What happened? Was it a snake?”

A snake? Oh my God, she hadn’t even thought about snakes. What was she doing out here in just socks when there were snakes around?

“Rock! Rock!” she cried as he set her down on a much larger rock that was mostly flat on top.

Then he crouched in front of her and grabbed her poor injured foot.

“Why are you only wearing socks, Little girl?” he growled as he slid her sock off carefully.

“I didn’t want to ruin my shoes in the mud,” she explained. “I only have them and my slippers.”

He grunted, but she didn’t speak man-grunt so she had no idea what that meant.

He examined her foot, pressing gently on the sore part. She hissed and let out a small cry.

“That bad, huh?” He glanced up at her.

“Terrible, Daddy. Just terrible.”

“Hmm. Think we need to amputate?”

“I don’t know, Daddy. I don’t think it’s that bad.” She tried to snatch her foot back, but he held on tight.

“What about crutches?”

“Nuh-uh. Not that bad.”

“Well, we could bandage it up, and you would have to stay off it for a few weeks.”

“I think it’s fine, actually, Daddy. It feels a lot better now.”

“Want some Daddy kisses?” he asked.

“Ew, Daddy, you don’t want to kiss my stinky foot.” He raised her foot to his mouth and proved her wrong, laying kisses on the sole.

All right. That did actually feel a lot better.

“All better now, Daddy. I think you’ve got a magic touch.”

“And I think you’re in trouble for whacking me in the face with mud, then running from me through the forest in stocking feet.”

“But that wasn’t my fault. I wasn’t aiming for your face.”

“What were you aiming for?” he asked.

“Your stomach,” she explained.

“So you were still aiming for me then?”

“Oh, yes, no, I meant the stomach of the tree,” she said, not meeting his eyes.

“Do you want extras for lying?” he asked.

“No, no, Daddy, no. All right, I shouldn’t have thrown the mud at you, but that was just for fun.”

“You’re right, it was just for fun, but you shouldn’t have been outside without telling Eli.”