Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (22 page)

“
Just stay with me. I am done gathering
eggs. We will go in the house,” Emma said, putting her arm around
the elderly woman's shoulder. Hallie and Nora were on their own
from now on. She was pretty sure there wouldn't be any way to talk
Tootie into going outside with her again after this run in with
Tom.

On Friday evening, Jimmie Miller picked up
Noah and Daniel so they could run the hounds again in the timber.
They turned down the dirt road behind two other buggies and stopped
at the same place the boys gathered the first time.

Noah noticed Matthew Stoll had his twenty two
rifle cradled in his arms again. “You should leave that gun in the
buggy.”

Matthew shrugged his shoulders. “Ain't
hurting anything?”

“
Noah is right. No need for a gun out
here. You should leave it home,” Andy Zook told him.

Matthew walked over to his buggy and laid the
rifle on the floor in front of the seat. All the while, the dogs
barked at the air, lunged on their ropes and rumbled at each other.
They were ready to hunt.

“
Too bad Johnnie Mast can not be here
this time. He is missing all the fun,” Jimmie Miller said
sadly.

“
He will be well by the time we go coon
hunting for real. Johnnie can go all he wants in season.” Daniel
had Biscuit's rope shortened so the dog stayed right beside him,
but he was excited. The pup leaped up and bounced off Daniel's leg,
causing him to stagger.

Noah said, “It's time to let the dogs
go.”

The dogs took off and scattered through the
trees, sniffing for coon scent. The boys were right behind the
dogs.

Biscuit whined and licked Daniel hand. “Now
can I let the dog go?”

“
Jah, we will just wander around here.
We should be careful not to let Dog get into a fight with the other
dogs. Mama Hal would want us to stop training him if he came home
hurt again,” Noah said.

The mummer of Bender Creek was loud as the
water twisted through the hickory and oaks. Biscuit picked up a
scent near the creek bank. He raised his head, sniffed the air,
bawled a challenging bay and trotted off. His long ears flopped,
keeping time with his loping stride. The boys raced after him.

Biscuit picked up speed. His deep bays rang
loud and clear. The boys whooped at him to encourage him as the dog
disappeared. They heard his tree barks before they saw him. He was
racing around a large oak tree. He leaped up on the trunk and
bounced off to make another lap.

Noah shone the flashlight up in the tree and
made contact with two yellow eyes shining through the leaves. “He
found a coon!”

When Biscuit saw the boys, he came tearing
back to them. The coon decided it was time to move. Biscuit heard
the rustle of branches as the animal jumped from one limb to
another. The dog's body went rigid. The hairs on his back bristled
His eyes bored into the darkness above him, and his black shiny
nose wiggled as he tried to catch the coon's scent again.

“
Gute dog,” Daniel said as he patted
the dog's head.

In the distance, they heard other voices
whoop and dogs baying. Noah and Daniel listened to the voices to
see if those dogs were successful.

A rifle report echoed through the woods. A
shrill, pain filled scream followed. A boy's voice yelled, “Help!
Matthew shot himself.”

Noah said, “I better go see what happened?”
His excitement turned to a sickening dread. His knees shook, and
his heart pounded. “Daniel, catch our dog and bring him.” He took
off running toward the voices.

His rustling footsteps blended in with the
other boys as they all converged on the cries and moans coming out
of the darkness.

David Rogies was on his knees, trying to hold
the boy still as Matthew Stoll thrashed in the dried leaves. Noah
got down beside David and shone his flashlight on Matthew. “Where
is he hit?”

David's voice trembled. “In the side of his
neck. See the blood. So – so much blood.”

“
I see. The vein is open. He will bleed
to death.” Noah picked up a handful of leaves, wadded them together
and packed the wound to slow down the bleeding. He pulled his blue
handkerchief from his back pocket and bound Matthew's neck to hold
the leaves in place. “We need to get Matthew to Nurse Hal quick.
Put him in a buggy, and let's go.”

Four boys grabbed an arm or leg, and they
took off back to the road. When they got to a buggy, they laid
Matthew on the back seat and turned the buggy around to head for
the Lapp farm.

The procession of buggies came down the road
at a fast clip. Tootie heard something and looked out the window.
She saw the headlights and knew from the black shapes it was
buggies. “Are you having a party here?”

“
Nah, not that I know about,” John
said. “Why?”

“
A bunch of buggies are pulling in the
yard fast,” Tootie said.

John came to the window with Hal. “What's
happening, John?”

“
I do not know.” John opened the door
and went out on the porch.

Noah yelled, “Tell Mama Hal Matthew Stoll is
hurt. He needs her help fast.”

Jim, Nora and Tootie stayed on the porch as
Hal passed by John on the steps. She raced to the front buggy.
“What kind of injury?”

Andy Zook said, “A bullet wound in the
neck.”

Hal grabbed Noah's flashlight and shone it on
Matthew. His pale face was stained red. Blood trickled out around
the leaves in the wound, soaking the handkerchief. “Don't move
him,” Hal ordered. She clambered into the buggy and pressed against
the leaves to slow down the bleeding. “Stay still, Matthew. Mom, go
get a blanket from the clinic for this boy. He's going into shock.
Emma, call 911 for an ambulance. Tell them we need an aircare
copter to light as close to the Lapp farm as they can get. Explain
that the boy's jugular vein is open from a bullet wound. John take
the boys up on the porch out of the way.” As an after thought, Hal
asked, “Who put the leaves in the wound?”

Noah spoke up. “I did. The blood spurted out.
I wanted to slow the flow down.”

The screen door banged as Hal said, “Gute
job, son.”

Nora unfolded the blanket and handed it to
Hal.

Emma came running back. “The copter is going
to light at the intersection on the highway with our road. The
ambulance will be here soon.” She grabbed a corner of the blanket
and helped Hal cover Matthew. Gently, she placed her hand on the
boy's forehead. “Hang in there, Matthew. Help is coming.” Her voice
trembled as she said, “Mammi Nora, that is one of my students.
Makes two in so many days that I have seen badly hurt.”

John went to the porch and sat beside Jim and
Tootie in the swing. The boys sat down on the porch floor. “When
Matthew gets to the hospital, the shooting will be reported to the
sheriff. I need to hear from you boys what happened before the
sheriff comes to talk to you.”

Noah said, “Matthew had a twenty two rifle
with him in the timber. I told him to put it back in his buggy. He
did put the gun away before we started to run the dogs.”

“
Matthew just waited until Noah was out
of sight and got his rifle again. He said Noah was a sissy,” Andy
Zook said. “I told him he should listen to Noah.”

David Rogies said, “We were running after
Matthew's dog. He treed a coon. Matthew tripped and fell. He must
have had the safety off. The rifle fired and hit him in the
neck.”

“
All recht, I will tell the sheriff
this,” John said. “He will want to talk to each of you to get the
story from eye witnesses. Tell him what you know when Sheriff
Dawson stops by.”

The ambulance screamed in and parked by the
buggy. The EMTs came running with a stretcher. Daryl said, “Nurse
Hal, what's up?”

“
Matthew accidentally shot himself in
the neck with a rifle. He hit his jugular vein. He's lost a lot of
blood. I've been pressing against the wound. It's filled with dried
leaves and bound with a handkerchief.” She looked behind Daryl.
“Hi, Steve. I'll get out of the way and let you guys take
over.”

Soon they loaded Matthew into the ambulance
and raced down the road with strobe lights flashing.

Hal stared at the last of the buggies
leaving.. “I don't suppose those boys are going to get a wink of
sleep tonight. I'll check at the hospital in the morning to see if
Matthew made it through the night.”

“
The boy that bad?” Jim
asked.

“
Jah, Dad, he's that bad,” Hal said.
“He has lost a lot of blood already.”

The next morning, John wanted to talk to the
sheriff about the shooting accident so Hal rode in with him to the
hospital. Lucy Stineford was the nurse on duty at the emergency
room nurse's station. “Hello, Hal. Seems like I've seen more of you
lately.”

“
Don't you ever go home?”

“
Supposed to be there right now.
Filling in for someone. You know how that goes,” Lucy
said.

“
I do. I'm just checking on one of my
patients,” Hal said. “Matthew Stoll came in last night with a gun
shot wound in his neck.”

“
I just looked in on him. He made it
through the night. Vitals aren't too strong yet, but he lost a lot
of blood,” Lucy said. “He's in ICU. Want to go see him?”

“
Nah, I don't want to disturb him,” Hal
said. “I imagine his parents are with him.”

“
They are,” Lucy confirmed.

“
Think he will make it?”

“
Could go either way, but the boy is
healthy otherwise so he stands a good chance to come through this,”
Lucy said.

After John stopped to talked to Sheriff
Dawson, they went home. Hal explained Matthew's condition to the
boys and told them to spread the word to the other boys. Matthew
made it through the night. They should pray for him to get through
the coming night. With each day he survived, he would grow
stronger.

Chapter 15

Saturday afternoon, the sheriff's cruiser
pulled into the Lapp driveway. Sheriff Dawson knocked, and Hal
answered the door. “Hello, Sheriff. What can I do for you?”

The sheriff removed his hat. “I want to talk
to your sons about the shooting that happened during the coon hunt
over on Bender Creek.”

“
Of course. The boys are with their
father in the barn,” Hal said. “Want me to go get them?”

“
No need to bother. I can go to the
barn and roust them out. Thank you, ma'am,” he said, tipping his
hat brim. Hal stood at door, watching the long legged lawman. With
his long strides, he was across the driveway and peeking over the
barn open half door in no time. “John Lapp, are you in
here?”

John came to the door. Above the rumble of
the generator, he asked, “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”

“
I'd like to talk to your boys about
the shooting if that's all right with you.”

“
Jah, it is.” John called for Noah and
Daniel. “Step outside and talk to the sheriff where you do not have
to shout to be heard,” John told them. “Sheriff, this is Noah, and
this is Daniel,” he said, patting each boy on the
shoulder.

“
Daniel and I have met,” the sheriff
said. The boys fidgeted from one foot to the other. Not liking it
at all that they were the center of attention. “This won't take
long. You boys aren't in trouble. I just need to make out a report
about Matthew Stoll's accident. I'm talking to all the boys that
were training their hounds in Bender's timber to get the story
straight. That all right with you?”

Noah said, “Jah.”

Daniel nodded.

“
Good. Noah, tell me where you were
when the shooting occurred.”

Noah cleared his throat. “Daniel and I were
following our pup hound. He seemed to be on a trail, but we are
just training him so we let him go off away from the other dogs. He
really does not know what he is doing. We heard the shot, and
Matthew screamed right after that. David Rogies yelled that Matthew
had shot himself. We heard the other boys all running toward where
they heard the shot. I told Daniel to chase down our dog, and come
as soon as he could. I ran in the direction of the voices.”

“
What did you find?”

“
Matthew was on the ground with his
hands over his neck. The boys had flashlights on him. Matthew was
in a lot of pain, moaning and wiggling around.” Noah's face paled
as he described the scene.

“
I know this is a hard thing to talk
about for you boys. I understand that. Bare with me,” the sheriff
said kindly. “What happened next?”

Noah swallowed hard and continued. “I got on
my knees beside Matthew and peeked under his bloody hands. I saw
the bullet hole in his neck. Blood came out in squirts when he
moved and breathed. I picked up a hand full of leaves and poked
them into the hole to slow the bleeding down then tied my
handkerchief around his neck. It looked like he might bleed to
death really quick. I told the other boys we had to get him in a
buggy and take him to the clinic for Nurse Hal to tend him.”

“
You saved Matthew's life. Your folks
must be real proud of you,” the sheriff said. “How did you know to
do that with the leaves in the wound?”

Noah shrugged as he thought. “I think I
picked the idea up while I listened to some of the men talk about
hunting accidents.”

“
It's a lucky break for the Stoll boy
that you knew what to do. That's for sure,” the sheriff said. “Did
you know he had a rifle with him?”

“
Jah, he took it out of his buggy when
we were ready to follow the dogs,” Noah said reluctantly. “I told
him to put it back in the buggy. We could not use guns until open
season. There were too many of us in the dark timber, and he might
cause an accident.”