Samuel didn’t respond to Meredith’s question, but sometimes silence spoke louder than words.

Shortly after, the test results came back: no traces of venom were detected in Nora’s system. The wound had been treated, and the entire ordeal turned out to be nothing more than a false alarm.

“Sorry, Uncle,” Nora said, her tone apologetic. “I ruined your camping trip.”

Her screams during the snake encounter had been so terrifying that the ...