Wilma was furious.
That was absurd!
That was total nonsense!
Paulina had crossed the line this time!
"Aunt Wilma, please take a moment to breathe," Luna coaxed, and her voice was a soothing balm as she gently held Wilma's arm. "Knowing Paulina as I do, she's not one to blur the lines of right and wrong without reason. If she's brought Ms. Yeager here, she must have her reasons. Maybe, just maybe, Ms. Yeager can heal Tammie, right?"
Trying to keep a lid on her boiling fury, Wilma retorted, "Heal? Everyone in Cloudcrest knows that the Morris girl is nothing but an illiterate charlatan. If she had any talent, pigs would sprout wings and take to the skies! I bet Paulina wants to see Tammie six feet under!"
"Aunt Wilma," Luna continued, "there's an old saying that a gentleman should not judge the merits of another's words by their status nor dismiss the worth of their status by their words. Maybe we've got Ms. Yeager wrong. She doesn't seem as bad as the rumors paint her."
Wilma glanced at Luna helplessly. "Luna, you're too naive. Do you believe that quack could know anything about medicine? If Anthea had such miraculous healing powers, her name wouldn't have dragged through the mud in Cloudcrest! People have eyes. If she was that impressive, who could slander her?"
Fraud was a fraud!
No amount of dressing up could turn a fake into a genius.
Hearing that, Luna furrowed her brow. "Well, Aunt Wilma, you do have a point. After all, they say the people's judgment is rarely wrong."
But when the words left her mouth, Luna shifted the direction of the conversation, "However, I heard from Paulina that her Uncle Willard had introduced Ms. Yeager to her. The family wouldn't steer the family wrong. Maybe we're making this more complicated than it is. What if there's a twist in the tale and Ms. Yeager manages to cure Tammie?"
Far from being comforted, Wilma grew angrier.
Paulina's Uncle Willard was no simple man. He graduated from a prestigious medical school and knew pharmacology well.
The Smith family's pharmacy had been in business for nearly a century.
How could such a man recommend a fraud to treat Tammie?
It was clear as day to anyone with half a brain!
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