Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (21 page)

On the short ride to the Bontrager house,
Nora pointed out to Tootie a farmer with eight snorting horses
pulling a plow. The jangling harness sounded like music
accompanying the farmer's loud shouts to keep moving as the rich
gumbo rolled from the gleaming plowshares.

At the Bontrager house, Jane met them at the
door. They sat down in empty chairs between the other ladies
already working around the quilting frame. Tootie hesitated when
she saw the only empty chair left by Stella Strutt, but she didn't
have a choice. Sallie Gingerich and Jane were on the other side of
Stella. Nora and Hal were seated across from Tootie with Linda
Yoder and Margaret Yoder beside them.

As the three women threaded needles, put on
their thimbles and started stitching, Linda Yoder asked, “Wonder
how Mary Mast is getting along now?”

Hal said, “She's doing fine. She's not far
away from delivery. We're praying for a different outcome this
time.”

“
We will all pray for her,” Sallie
Gingerich said in her soft squeaky voice.

“
Sure did not help her any when Johnnie
had his accident,” Margaret said. “Johnnie must be coming around by
now, ain't so?”

“
He's doing better, considering how
badly his leg was broken,” Hal said.

“
Always something bad happening to
someone,” Jane Bontrager said. “Did you hear Jonas Bender broke his
leg yesterday morning?”

“
His son, Mark, came for me. I called
an ambulance for him while I stabilized the leg,” Hal said, pulling
her needle through the cloth. “He needed surgery on the bone to put
a pin in the break.”

“
That poor family always has struggles
of one thing or another with that farm,” Margaret said.

Jane added, “Elton is organizing a work bee
so the men can help the Benders out while Jonas leg is
mending.”

Displeased, Stella Strutt yanked her needle
through the quilt, puckering the material. “Moses says Jonas Bender
never gets in a hurry on a gute day. In any hurry at all. That is
why he always has too much left to do by bedtime. His own fault.
Really his own fault. He does not get an early start like most men.
Appears to me it is his own fault his farm is struggling when he
gets hurt.”

“
Perhaps, but we should help Brother
Bender in his time of need just the same, ain't so?” Jane said,
looking at the other women to take her side.

“
Is so,” Linda Yoder agreed.

The others nodded that they agreed.

Tootie looked at the quilt and contemplated,
“The farmers around us help each other when one of them is sick or
hurt. It's what you do as your Christian duty.”

Stella looked stern down her nose at Tootie.
Tootie glanced at Stella then concentrated on her needle and
thread.

Changing the subject, Katie Stolfus asked,
“Have any of you noticed the sad shape Peter Rogies is in?”

“
Yes,” Jane said. “He is
failing.”

“
I do not know how to talk to the poor
man anymore,” Linda Yoder said. “I tried at the last meeting
service, and he called me by his late wife's name.”

“
Just answer him in such a way that
makes him feel all right with himself,” Hal told her. “He has
Alzheimer's disease. His family has their hands full trying to keep
him calm.”

Stella Strutt grunted. “With the shape the
man is in not much any of us can do for him. Not much we can do but
leave him alone.”

Jane said, “Des verschtehn ich, but we can
keep him in our prayers. God understands even if we do not and will
be by Peter's side.”

“
Peter needs understanding from all of
you,” Tootie said gently as she cut the thread.

“
We understand very well. The man has
lost his mind,” Stella Strutt bluntly as she brought her needle
back up through the material.

“
Peter is a kind man that isn't well.
You would do good to remember that.” Tootie was vex. She knotted
the end of the thread and rammed her needle through the quilt.
While Stella glared at her, Tootie busied herself feeling for the
needle to retrieve it under the quilt. She made a wide sweep with
her hand, found the needle and tugged on it when the needle
resisted. Whatever it was caught on gave way, and Tootie stuck the
needle back through the quilt bottom and brought it to the
top.

Sallie Gingerich said, “Anna Rogies said the
birthday party did not go well. Peter grabbed Hal by the arm and
was angry with her.”

“
Nurse Hal probably stuck her
schnuppich nose too close to where it did not belong. Did not
belong at all like she has a habit of doing,” Stella said
snidely.

“
What happened wasn't my niece's
fault,” Tootie defended sharply. “You had to be there to
understand, and you weren't invited.”

Stella stopped her needle in mid air and got
in a staring match with Tootie.

Hal looked from one to the other woman
thinking,
They are talking about me as if
I'm not here.

Jane intervened before things escalated
between the two women. “Now we can see Hal is right here, and she
is all right. Stella, we know she knows how to take care of herself
and is a great help to those in need.”

Tootie settled down and went back to
stitching.

Stella was now spoiling for a fight. “Have
you cleared the smoke smell from your house yet, Nurse Hal?” She
rubbed in.

Margaret worried, “Smoke? Did you have a
fire?”

“
Nah! Well, just a little one as a
result of a cooking mishap,” Hal explained. “Jah, Sister Stella,
our house is fine now.”

Stella leaned close to Sallie Gingerich and
whispered loudly for all to hear, “It wonders me who is really the
oddest one in that family.”

Tootie's head shot up, but Hal shook her head
in a let it go warning. Tootie took the hint and went back to
stitching energetically. The women managed to keep the rest of the
conversations on neutral subjects.

Finally, Hal said they should go home. Jane
walked with them to the door. “Nora and Tootie, come back and visit
anytime.”

“
We will. This was such a treat.” Nora
said to the women behind Jane, “We've enjoyed quilting with all of
you.”

Hal started to respond likewise when Stella
stood up. The quilting frame tilted away from Stella and toppled
over. Stella did a nose dive on top of it. Her black dress billowed
out over the white quilt as she floundered with her arms and legs
treading air. She squalled for help. The women rushed to her. It
took several of them to help her onto her feet. When they did, the
quilting frame followed her into an upright position.

“
That's odd,” Jane said.

Linda Yoder peeked under the frame. “Stella's
apron is sewn to the bottom side of the quilt. I need scissors.”
Margaret handed her the scissors. Linda squatted down under the
frame to cut the threads.

Hal asked, “Are you all right, Stella?”

“
I think so, but I could have been hurt
because of your dummkopf aunt,” Stella sputtered.

“
Me? I wasn't even close when you fell
down,” Tootie said innocently.

“
Never mind, Aunt Tootie. If Stella
isn't hurt, we're leaving,” Hal said as she pushed Tootie toward
the door. She turned and whispered to Jane, “I am so sorry to leave
you now. Can you calm Stella down?”

“
I can manage,” Jane said, her eyes
twinkling. “See you soon.”

The buggy ride home started out quietly.
Suddenly, Tootie blurted out, “If I said something wrong to that
mean old witch I'm sorry. I was just tired of her picking on Peter.
Besides, my Pennsylvania Dutch may be bad, but I think she called
me a dummy for the second time.”

“
It's all right, Aunt Tootie,” Hal
said. “Stella says lots of things like that when she's angry. She
was really mad, because you sewed her apron to the quilting
frame.”

“
Me? How do you know she didn't do that
to herself?” Did you see how she puckered that pretty quilt when
she jerked her needle through the material,” Tootie
sputtered.

Nora shrugged. “Might as well let it go. What
is done is done I guess.”

Tootie sniffed haughtily. “You're beginning
to sound more Amish every day, Nora,”

“
Aendi Tootie,” Emma said, trying not
to smile. “We have a saying. Keep your words soft and sweet just in
case you have to eat them. I might add, keep your needle in front
of you when you sew at a quilting frolic.”

“
I'll remember that the next time,”
Tootie grumbled. Under her breath, she said to Emma, “Unless I have
to be at a quilting bee with that old bat.”

Nora leaned over to Hal. “There will always
be a next time for my sister. Maybe not at a quilting bee, but
there will be a next time. Sorry, Hal.”

Emma added, “No need to worry, Mammi Nora. I
doubt Stella Strutt will let Aendi Tootie sit by her again.”

Hal rolled her eyes toward the buggy roof and
kept driving.

Tootie grumped, “Oh, you girls.”

Hal didn't know what Stella Strutt would
spread about her sassy English aunt, but this time she was pretty
sure Tootie had it coming to her.

When they arrived home, Emma thought it might
be a good thing to get Tootie away from Hal and Nora for a while.
“Aendi Tootie, come with me to the hen house to watch me gather
eggs. I'll show you my hens. I have the best laying flock around
here.” She hoped that didn't sound too boastful, but she had to
have a good reason to get Tootie out of the house.

“
No, Dear, hen houses are smelly and
dusty. They make me wheeze,” Tootie said.

“
All recht, you do not have to come
inside. Stand outside the door and watch,” Emma said.

“
Oh, I don't know. There's probably
something in here I should be doing,” Tootie stalled, hoping Nora
or Hal would come to her rescue. The women didn't seem to be
listening.

“
I wanted you to see my rooster,
Abraham? He's a pretty fellow,” Emma enticed.

“
Don't care to get close to a rooster.
I got pecked by a mean one once. It hurt,” Tootie
complained.

“
My rooster will not hurt you. He is
not mean,” Emma wheedled.

Tootie kept eyeing Hal and Nora. They didn't
say a word in her defense. Finally, Tootie ran out of excuses. “All
right, I'll go with you.”

As they crossed the back yard, Tootie
fretted, “I'm in trouble with your mother and Nora, aren't I?”

“
They will get over it. We have always
had to endure Stella Strutt and her strict ideas. Sometimes, it
does her gute to be confronted with someone who puts her in her
place. Mama Hal would agree with that.”

“
I don't think Hallie wanted it to be
me putting Stella in her place in front of all those women at the
quilting bee of all places,” Tootie worried.

“
Probably not, but I will tell you a
secret. Usually it is Hallie that gives Stella a hard time. They
have never gotten along,” Emma said, giggling.

“
Really? That makes me feel a little
better,” Tootie said.

Emma pointed to a setting hen, racing across
the dusty chicken yard, followed by her brood of fluffy chicks. The
hen stopped and scattered the dirt, looking for bugs. When she
found some insects, she clucked to her chicks to eat. She spotted
the women coming and squawked as she bristled at what looked like
danger. Her chicks fled under her and huddled in a pile beneath the
protective shelter of her cradling wings.

Emma said, “Stand at the door and watch me
gather the eggs. That way you get to see my gute flock.”

“
Okay,” Tootie said half heartedly. She
focused on the too close for comfort setting hen growling at
her.

Inside, a hen cackled her displeasure when
Emma stuck her hand under her, looking for an egg. The hen flew off
the nest just as Tootie looked to see what the trouble was in the
building. The hen sailed at Tootie in the doorway.

“
Oh, my!” Tootie slid against the wall
in time to get out of the hen's way. Only her head reappeared in
the door so she'd be less likely to get assaulted by hens and still
watch Emma.

The hen cackled loudly, scaring the other
hens on the floor. They raised their heads and joined in a chorus
of noisy cackles. They didn't know what they were upset about, but
when one of them set off the alarm, they all joined in.

“
Ouch!” Tootie felt a sharp pain in the
back of her hand. She looked behind her and screamed. In the next
breath, she wailed, “Emma, get him away from me.”

Emma hurried to the door. “What is
wrong?”

“
I shouldn't have come out here. I told
you roosters bite. Your big rooster just bit my hand,” Tootie
shouted, flattening herself against the building as Tom peered
closely at her. “You said your rooster wouldn't hurt
me.”

“
This is Tom, our turkey. I forgot
about him,” Emma admitted sheepishly. “I am sorry, Aendi Tootie.
Shoo, Tom. Go away.” She fluttered her apron at the turkey. He
fanned his tail feathers out, strutted and chirped as stopped to
stare at Tootie.

“
Please get me away from him. He's
eyeing me like he plans to bite me again.” Tootie gave a tragic
sniffle while she held her hands together up against her
chest.

“
Tom does not like strangers very
well,” Emma admitted.

“
Now you tell me,” Tootie said with a
haughty sniff. “I wouldn't have come out here if I thought I'd be
attacked.”