Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (8 page)

As they left the driveway, Nora pointed to the
pasture road fence. “Isn't that the horse your father bought tied
to the fence?”

“
You never know,” Emma commented smoothly.
“Horses all look alike.”

“
That's true,” Hal agreed.

Nora mused, “I wonder why John left the poor thing
there like that?”

“
Hal, you know where you're going I hope,”
Tootie interrupted much to Hal's relief.

“
Aunt Tootie, I know this country like the back
of my hand. Remember I'm a midwife and nurse around here. Don't
worry. I'll get us to the Yoder farm and back home before
dark.”

“
Sure you will. I've heard words like that
before from your father,” Tootie said with little confidence. “You
know what they say. An apple doesn't fall far from the
tree.”

When they arrived, Hal announced, “Aunt Tootie, we
have arrived.”

Linda and her mother-in-law, Margaret Yoder, came out
of the house to greet them as they pulled up by the porch.
Margaret, a middle aged woman with silver streaked brown hair and a
warm smile that reached her brown eyes, called, “Wilcom, Sisters.
Get out and come in.”

Linda, with her quiet unassuming air, added, “Do join
us, Sisters.”

They gathered in the kitchen. Hal unfolded a quilt
and laid it on the floor for the little girls to nap on. They
curled up with their thumbs in their mouths. Emma knelt beside them
and rubbed their backs until they were asleep.

The women settled at the table. Linda poured hot tea,
and Margaret passed a plate of fresh baked oatmeal cookies.

“
We'd have been here sooner, but the work
horses ran away with the manure spreader,” Hal said, taking a
cookie.

Margaret quickly set the plate down. “Anyone
hurt?”

“
Nah, except for Noah's sprained ankle. “The
team ran over the pasture lane fence and tore out a few posts and
wires before they stopped. The boys had them untangled by the time
we left.”

Tootie said excitedly, “Daniel would have been
trampled by those old horses if Hal hadn't saved him.”

“
Oh, my,” Linda gasped.

Hal shrugged. “Daniel froze. I got him out of the
way.”

Margaret patted Tootie's hand. “These things happen
more than we would like when we work with horses.” She turned to
Nora. “I'm glad you made your journey to the Lapp farm safely.”

“
Thank you. The trip does seem to take longer
the older we get,” Nora replied.

“
Wouldn't be near as long a trip if Jim didn't
get lost so often,” Tootie said with a put upon sigh.

Linda saw Hal nod her head at her aunt. Hal had
forewarned Margaret and her about this odd relative. Linda thought
it might help if she changed the subject. “Hal, did you know that
Amy Zook's boy, David, fell off his horse and broke his arm last
week?”

“
Jah, Amy brought David over to see me. I told
her to take him to the hospital. He needed more help than I could
give him and a x-ray to see how bad the break was,” Hal
said.

“
Was it a bad break?” Nora asked.

“
We heard the break was serious enough to have
a cumbersome cast on his right arm,” Linda replied before she took
a bite of cookie.

“
I'm sure it was then,” Hal agreed. “Usually a
plaster cast has to be worn for six weeks.”

Margaret said, “Someone told me Jacobus Stolfus is
poorly.”

“
Poor old fellow,” Hal said. “He never has very
many gute days in a row.”

“
His wife told me he has not very many days
left,” Margaret told her.

“
Wonder why Jeannie didn't come get me to take
a look at Jacobus?” Hal asked.

“
I think he is bad enough that she did not want
to bother you. It is in God's hands now,” Linda said.

“
I feel sorry for that kind old man. He was
given a tough life with all his ailments,” Hal said
sympathetically.

Margaret shook her head no as she rebuked, “Jacobus
would say to you that God gave him the life he was supposed to
have.”

“
Jah, I should be more mindful of that.” Hal
conceded to the Amish way of thinking and concentrated on her
cookie.

“
Nora, are you enjoying your visit?” Margaret
asked.

“
We are. I'll hate to go home once I've had
this time with my daughter and her family.”

“
Maybe you will change your mind after Jim
talks you into a few more of those awful buggy rides,” Tootie
quipped.

Linda and Margaret gave Tootie a quizzical stare.

Hal figured she better explain fast before the Yoder
women thought Tootie was bias against Amish buggies. “My father
bought a courting buggy at the salebarn yesterday.”

“
And he has tried it out I take it,” Margaret
said, smiling.

“
He sure did,” Nora told her. “With me in
it.”

“
He got them lost in the dark last night,”
Tootie continued.

“
Where were you at?” Linda asked
Nora.

“
I don't know. We could hear running water so
must have been a creek close by and lots of trees on both sides of
the road. Wild animals and birds were all around us.” Nora cringed
as she relived the moment. “We drove under some tree branches and
woke up a hoot owl. Scared the daylights out of me when he hooted
right over my head. I was afraid I was going to be his
supper.”

Margaret chuckled.

“
I think it was Bender Creek Road,” Hal
supplied.

Margaret and Linda nodded agreement.

All too soon, the afternoon was over. Linda said,
“Have a safe trip home. See you all at the next worship service at
Jonah Rogies's farm, ain't so?”

“
Yes,” Nora agreed.

“
We will we there,” Tootie chipped
in.

When Hal turned into the Lapp driveway, she parked
behind Adam Keim's buggy. “Emma, Adam is here.”

Adam came out of the barn with Daniel. Adam walked
toward Emma, carrying Redbird.. Daniel leaned up against the barn.
Emma said, “Adam, do not tell me. Let me guess. You came to see the
new dog.”

Adam held out his right hand and wavered it back and
forth. With a teasing grin, he pointed toward the barn, made a plus
sign with one finger over the other and pointed at her.

“
Nice to know I fit in there some place. I do
not think I will ask where I rate, above or below the dog,” Emma
quipped as Adam made a face at Redbird.

The little redhead held her arms out to Adam and
giggled. He gave her a pleased smile and took her. She paid him
with a slobbery kiss on the cheek and patted the top of his
head.

Emma grinned. “Maybe I am lower down the rating poll
than I thought. Looks like I have to put Redbird on your like list
ahead of me.”

Adam shook his head yes and teasingly hugged the
little girl.

“
Come with me. You should meet the relatives.
Hope you plan to stay for supper. They are curious about you. It is
time for them to get to know you,” Emma said.

Adam nodded slowly, dusted himself off and
straightened his gallouses.

Emma lowered her voice. “Don't worry. They are all
nice and very friendly. Aendi Tootie's a little plumb off center,
but she is harmless.” She whispered as an after thought, “I think.”
When Adam arched an eyebrow, she grinned. Peering over Adam's
shoulder, she said to Daniel, “How is Noah?”

“
Sitting on a bale of hay with his foot up,
talking to Dawdi Jim.”

“
Put the buggy away and unhitch Ben. We are
going to start supper,” Emma told Daniel. Nora and Tootie were
waiting beside Hal for their introductions. Emma said, “I want you
to meet my very special friend, Adam Keim. Adam, this is my Mammi
Nora and my Aendi Tootie.”

Adam shook hands with them.

“
I take it you met my father in the barn,” Hal
said, repositioning Beth on her hip.

Adam shook his head yes and poked Beth gently in the
arm. She smiled weakly at him and laid her head on Hal's
shoulder.

“
Now we women better head for the kitchen,” Hal
said. “Adam, are you staying for supper?”

He nodded yes.

“
Gute, it has been a while since you last ate
with us. I was beginning to think you had grown tired of our
cooking,” Hal teased.

Adam gave a silent laugh and took out his notepad
from his shirt pocket. He wrote the word NEVER and turned it for
Hal to see.

“
Glad to hear that. We
all
like your company,” Hal said as she nodded at
Emma and winked at him.

Daniel came up behind Adam. “Want to go back to the
barn with us men?”

Adam grinned about the men reference and nodded yes.
He gave the protesting Redbird back to Emma. After a small wave of
his hand, he followed Daniel, leading the horse and buggy away.

After supper, the men and boys went to the living
room. In a few minutes, Tootie filled the dishpans herself and was
washing dishes. Emma had to wipe fast to keep up with her. Hal
scraped all the plates. She left her mother to put the leftovers in
containers and store them in the gas refrigerator. She was
determined to get to the barn and back before Tootie finished
washing the last kettle.

Hal rushed to the barn with her skirt and apron
flapping against her legs. She scattered the cats with her bare
feet to get to the old cake pan she fed them in, dumped the pail
and hurried back to the house.

She burst through the mudroom door out of breath. Her
face fell in disappointment when she realized Emma was the only one
in the kitchen, waiting for her. She hadn't beaten Tootie
again.

That night in the bedroom, Hal slipped under the
covers by John. “Wasn't there any way you could have talked my dad
out of buying that buggy? Mom is fuming about it.”

“
I tried, but he wouldn't listen to
me.”

Hal continued heatedly, “Well, I guess Mom is going
to have to live with his purchase. Honestly, my family can be so
irritating sometimes. I didn't realize Aunt Tootie was such a
shirker until now. Odd yes, but lazy no.

Aunt Tootie was the one who picked the dish washing
job for herself. Now would you believe she refuses to stick around
long enough to wash the slop pail. That's part of the dish washing
job! Aunt Tootie knew that from the first night.”

“
You should not get so worked up. Pray for a
peaceful solution to all these problems,” John said softly, hoping
that wouldn't be the wrong thing to respond with.

If Hal wanted sympathy from him, she wasn't going to
get it. John rolled over on his side, baffled by all of Hal's
fussing. She shouldn't get so aggravated over something as simple
as who should wash the slop pail. After all, there were four
females in the kitchen during the clean up. Why weren't they taking
turns? It was as simple as that. He intended to go to sleep.
Hopefully after a good night's sleep, Hal would be in a better mood
tomorrow.

Chapter 6

Sunday morning, worship meeting day, started at
four-thirty as every other morning did, but the Lapp household
hustled around much faster, getting the chores done, eating
breakfast and cleaning up. Once everyone had on their for gute
clothes, they were ready to leave for church. John pulled the
enclosed buggy up by the house.

Noah offered to hitch Molly to Jim's buggy. Jim
followed to see if he could help. The boy lifted each of Molly's
feet to inspect them.

“
What are you doing?” Jim asked.

“
You need to check your horse before you start
out. A horse can lose a shoe, and you might not know it if you do
not look,” Noah said seriously. “It is one of the things you must
learn, Dawdi Jim, now that you own a horse.”

“
You're right. Until now, all I had to do was
walk around the car to see if I had a flat tire and kick the tires
occasionally to see if they had enough air in them.”

“
Jah, the two are much alike, but I would not
try kicking the horse if I were you,” Noah warned.

“
Oh, no! I wouldn't do that,” Jim
said.

The women came outside. Jim parked his buggy behind
John's. Nora declared, “Oh, Hallie, I don't think I can stand
another ride in that buggy.”

“
Mom, you will get used to it if you do it a
few times. I did,” Hal said.

“
Yes, but you're a lot younger than I am,” Nora
shot back. “Besides, you have to ride in one now that you're Amish.
I don't have to.”

“
It would make Dad so happy. He thinks this is
going to be the best vacation ever, driving his buggy everywhere.
He'll have so many stories to tell his friends when he gets home.
Don't mess it up for him,” Hal encouraged.

“
Look on the bright side, Sister. If he follows
right behind John's buggy you won't get lost again anyway,” Tootie
suggested.

Nora let out an exasperated sigh. “That's true.”

“
Come on, Nora. We better get a move on,” Jim
called. “We don't want to be late for church. It would make the
Lapp family look bad.”

“
We wouldn't want to be the cause of that.”
Nora rolled her eyes. With a huffy breath, she went to her side of
the buggy.

“
Want me to get down and help you get in?” Jim
asked.

“
I don't want you helping me your way again
ever with people watching. You stay put, and I'll get in by myself
somehow,” Nora hissed.