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Matt and Chester have their daily routine interrupted by a girl riding into Dodge City. Tara is a 16-year-old daughter of a homesteader with an infected leg. With Doc out of town, Matt rides out to see how he might help. Since the accident happened several days ago, it can’t be all that bad… can it?
As Matt considers the plight the family is in, he’s amazed at their determination to survive. Mom has passed away some time before, and with dad laid up, how will young Tara handle life on the farm by herself? Their only farm hand hasn’t been seen in days. Though he had been expecting the best, Matt confides in Chester that the injured leg does have blood poisoning, but will it be the ruin of the family if the leg were taken off? What could young Tara do without her dad to handle the work on the ranch? With no other medical help, will Matt be forced to do the job of a doctor, and amputate the leg?
Matt offers voiceover of how the operation went, but is soon faced with the farm hand who deserted the family. Evidence is noticed that could prove that the string of accidents that have plagued the Autry’s were anything but accidents. Is their farm hand, Ben up to no good? When he’s confronted, his lies and lame attempts to toss blame onto Matt don’t go very far.
PS: Though this is a reused script, I did a quick search in my online archives and didn’t find the previous version of it. I could’ve sworn I had it posted somewhere. Enjoy.
