Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (13 page)

The woman peered closely at the
English man and wondered if he was mentally stable, but she
wordlessly handed him the phone so he could make the call.
If he has a problem whether it is about his buggy
or not, let the law handle it. Just so he isn't my problem
anymore.

Sheriff Dawson pulled up by the entrance doors
in a few minutes. Jim and Daniel went to meet the car before he
could get out. He rolled down his window. “You the one called in
you had some trouble?”

“
My buggy and horse have
disappeared. I want to report them stolen,” Jim said.

“
I see,” Sheriff Dawson said
slowly, inspecting Jim's manner of dress and noting it was peculiar
that this English man had an Amish boy with him. An English man
owning an Amish buggy and with an Amish boy didn't exactly add up.
He opened his car door and stepped out so he was eye to eye with
Jim. “What's your name?”

“
Jim Lindstrom. I'm John Lapp's
father-in-law.”

The mention of John Lapp gave Jim some
credibility with the Sheriff. “Who is this boy with
you?”

“
I am Daniel Lapp son of John Lapp.
This is my dawdi,” Daniel supplied.

“
Well, get in and come to the
office with me. You can fill out a missing buggy report. After
that, I'll take you home,” the sheriff said and slid back behind
the wheel.

“
Your grandma is sure going to be
tickled the buggy and horse are gone. You wait and see,” Jim moaned
to Daniel as they slid into the back seat.

A couple blocks down the street, the dispatcher
blared on the radio.

“
Go ahead,” the sheriff said into
the mic.

“
We have a report of a buggy and
horse without a driver trotting down Main Street.”

“
Ask if the buggy has a red seat,”
Jim said excitedly.

“
Tell him it does,” the dispatcher
responded.

The sheriff aimed his car that direction. They
found the horse and buggy parked at the end of Main
Street.

“
That's my rig, Sheriff,” Jim
cried.

“
That's a courting buggy,” the
sheriff said suspiciously.

Jim looked sheepish. “I know it is, but it's
mine.”

“
It is, Sheriff. I was with Dawdi
when he bought it at the salebarn,” Daniel confirmed.

“
All right, I'm glad to be of help
to you.” The sheriff stopped by the buggy to let them out, and Jim
thanked him.

On the way to the grocery store, Jim worried
about his horse and buggy. “You think someone was playing a trick
on us? Let the horse go on purpose I mean.”

“
I do not know what happened,”
Daniel said.

The boy knew his way around the grocery store
so he helped Jim find the items on Hal's list. When they came out
of the store, Jim stopped short and shifted his sack of groceries.
“Oh, no! My buggy is gone again.”

“
How can this be?” Daniel
asked.

Eldon Bontrager was walking toward them from
where he just parked at the hitch rack. He overheard some of what
Jim said. “You have trouble?”

“
Good morning, Bishop,” Jim
greeted. “Did you happen to see a horse and buggy wondering down
the street without a driver.”

“
Nah,” the bishop
answered.

“
This is the second time today my
buggy and horse have vanished while we were in a store. We can't
figure out what is going on. Unless we find my rig we're on foot. I
hate to call the sheriff again to report this. Makes me feel
foolish. He just helped us find my rig about a half hour
ago.”

“
I will drive you around to look,”
Eldon said. “Hop in with me.”

They drove around town for almost an hour. As
they passed the tree nursery at the west edge of town, Daniel said,
“There is the buggy and horse.”

“
Where?” Jim asked.

“
In the trees.” Daniel pointed
between two of the neat rows of young trees.

Eldon pulled near Jim's buggy and let them out.
“I will wait until you catch the horse. Maybe he is
skittish.”

“
Thanks for all your help, Bishop.”
Jim started to the buggy then he turned back. “I know it's against
your belief to be anything but completely truthful, but could we
keep what happened this morning to ourselves? My wife isn't too
happy about me buying this horse and buggy. This will just be fuel
for the fire, as they say, if she knew Daniel and me have been
afoot today.”

“
I understand,” Eldon said,
grinning at him.

Daniel carefully reached for the horse's
bridle, got a firm hold and waved the bishop on. Jim looked to see
the two sacks were in the buggy before he stuck the grocery sack
beside them. Nothing was missing. “Daniel, I can't for the life of
me figure out what went on this morning.”

Daniel shrugged. “I do not know.”

“
Are we done shopping?”

“
Jah, and we might be late for
dinner. We should go now,” Daniel urged.

By the time they reached the Lapp driveway, Jim
had time to do some thinking. “I have an idea I want to
try.”

He tied up the horse with the double slip knot
to the hitch rack by the barn. “Daniel, back up with me so we can
watch to see what happens when Mike's alone.”

The horse took the rope in his mouth, lifted
his head up and down, pulling until the knot turned loose. Mike
backed up with the lead rope dangling and walked away as Daniel
grabbed the lead rope.

“
Now we know,” Jim said, rubbing
his jaw. “I feel bad. Here I was accusing somebody of stealing, and
all the time it was this horse doing the mischief.”

Daniel giggled. “He is pretty smart, ain't
so?”

“
We're going to be smarter than him
from now on,” Jim said.

Nora yelled from the porch, “You two better get
in here. We're thinking about eating without you. John wants to get
back to work.”

“
Remember, Daniel, not a word to
Grandma about this morning,” Jim said.

Daniel nodded.

At lunch, Hal told John that Peter had been by to see
him.

“
He did not say what he wanted?” John asked,
puzzled.

“
Nah, but he did say he'd be back,” Hal
replied.

“
We passed him on the road when we went to
town,” Daniel said. “I waved at him, but he did not wave
back.”

“
How did the trip to town go?” John
asked.

“
Fine,” Jim said quickly.

“
We were ready to go hunt them they were gone
so long,” Nora said.

“
We just knew Jim was lost again,” Tootie
supplied.

“
I was with Dawdi Jim. How could he be lost?”
Daniel defended.

“
That's right,” Jim said and winked at
Daniel.

That afternoon, Nora and Hal were constantly
interrupted by Tootie as she took the conversation off in a
direction that centered on her ailments. Emma decided it would be a
good idea to get her out of the house so Nora and Hal could visit.
“Aendi Tootie, how about going for a walk with me? It is such a
pretty day.”

“
No, I don't think so. I can't do much walking.
Bad knees you know, and I already did plenty of walking this
morning when I helped Hal hang out all those clothes,” Tootie
complained, rubbing her knees.

“
Oh, pittle,” Nora said. “It would do you good
to get a little exercise and some fresh air.”

Memory of the walk she enjoyed with Peter came back
to Tootie. She remarked to Peter she needed to walk more. Maybe she
refused Emma's offer too quickly.

Nora was saying, “If you get some exercise, you might
rest better so the rest of us can sleep.”

Tootie thought about her restless nights. That was as
good a reason to use as any to change her mind. She relented
sheepishly, “All right. If you think a walk will help me sleep,
I'll give it a try if we don't go too far.” She felt she had to add
that part. There was just so much she was willing to do in the name
of exercise.

“
We will not go far,” Emma promised.

As they left the house, Emma heard Mammi Nora praise
her. “Emma is as dependable as that rooster of hers that crows so
loud at daylight to wake us up.”

They stopped for Daniel. The reel mower clacked
noisily as he rushed by them on another round. The clippings sailed
around them and on their shoes, putting the scent of new mowed
grass in the air.

Tootie noticed the glinting copper pennies in the fly
bags tacked by the door and windows. “What are all the bags filled
with water and pennies are for?”

“
The flies see their reflection in the water,
and the sparkle the pennies make. They will not come past the bag
to go in the doors or sit on the windows,” Emma said.

Tootie scoffed, “Does that really work?”

“
Have you seen many flies in our
house?”

Tootie thought a moment. “No, I guess I haven't.”

“
So there you have it,” Emma said. “We can go
this way and walk down the lane between the cornfield and the
pasture. It is a pleasant walk.”

“
If you say so,” Tootie said, pushing her lower
lip out in a doubting pout.

“
Look over that way. I hear Daed's tractor
coming over the hill. He's planting corn with Dawdi Jim sitting on
the fender of the tractor.” Emma shaded her eyes with her hand.
Tootie did the same thing. When she saw Jim, Tootie waved, and Jim
waved back.

Emma said. “I think our farm is one of the prettiest
around. I love watching the animals with their young in the rolling
pasture. Ahead of us is the hayfield, growing fast. Daed will have
the seeds planted soon, and we will be able to row the corn when
the plants come up.”

Tootie pointed at Noah hoeing in the cornfield. “What
is Noah doing?”

“
Along the fence at the field gate hole, Noah
is planting pumpkin and squash that will vine into the corn. We
sell what we raise in our roadside stand in the fall,” Emma
explained.

“
I see,” Tootie said as she stepped close to
the opposite fence to look at the sheep, cattle and horses in the
pasture. A pheasant burst out of the dead grass. With a great
flapping rush, the bird soared away and lit beyond the grassy
swells strewn with cedars and multiflora rose bushes. The elderly
lady hurried back by Emma. “Gracious sakes! That scared
me.”

“
Pheasants do have a way of surprising us. All
the other birds that live around us are back from their winter
home,” Emma pointed out. “See the red wing blackbirds in the trees.
If you watch, you might see cardinals, mourning doves and blue
birds.”

“
That's nice, Dear.” Tootie said, sounding like
she trying to appease. Huffing and puffing, she had all she could
do to keep up. Emma chose to ignore her until they reached the
hayfield gate hole. “This is the end of the lane.”

“
Good! Can we go back to the house now?” Tootie
squeaked. Her face had turned a fire engine red.

“
Sure, stop and rest a minute. When we get
back, we will have a cold glass of lemonade. How does that
sound?”

Tootie's head shot up. “Is it homemade? I don't like
canned or bottled lemonade.”

“
My lemonade is homemade. I would not drink any
other kind,” Emma declared.

In the kitchen, Emma was pouring the lemonade around
the table when she heard hooves on the driveway. She pushed the
bushy parsley plant pot over so she could look out the window.
“Hallie, Peter Rogies stopped in front of the house. You said he
was here this morning, ain't so?”

“
Jah, he wants to talk to your dad. He did say
he'd be back. I just didn't expect it to be this soon,” Hal said,
getting up from the table. “I'll go talk to him.” She met the man
on his way to the house. “Afternoon, Peter. What can I do for
you?”

The screen door squeaked. Hal looked back. Tootie was
edging up behind her.

“
I want to see John Lapp,” Peter said
hoarsely.

“
John's in the field. He will be here in time
to milk,” Hal said. “Would you like to come in for some of Emma's
lemonade? We were about to have a glass.”

“
Nah! You tell John he might as well quit
avoiding my visits. I will catch up with him sooner or later.”
Peter looked over Hal's shoulder at Tootie and nodded before he
walked back to his buggy.

The elderly woman stared at the leaving buggy. Hal
fleetingly wondered what was running through her aunt's head,
before her mind shifted back to Peter. From what John said about
him, she worried that Peter soon might not be capable of finding
his way home.

The next morning, John sat down at the table. “Aendi
Tootie had a good night.”

Hal agreed, “Not a peep out of her.”

Emma winked at her father. “It wonders me how a long
walk can help someone get a gute night's sleep.

When John and Jim were going to the tractor, Peter
Rogies drove in. John greeted, “Morning, Peter. How are you
doing?”

“
Have been better,” Peter said shortly. He
glared sullenly at John as his horse pawed the driveway with a
restless hoof.

Finally, John cleared his throat and spoke. “Hal said
you stopped to see me when I was in the field. What can I do to
help you?”