Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

  When Hal finished winding the ace wrap around Noah's ankle, she said, “We can soak that ankle in Epsom salts tonight after supper. That will help the swelling go down. As soon as you can, you need to get off your feet. Put the ankle up so it won't throb as bad. If we don't see an improvement in a couple of days, you may need an x-ray to see if the ankle bone is cracked. Did the horses step on you?”

  “Nah, I twisted my ankle in rutted tracks the spreader wheels made,” Noah said.

  “What happened behind the barn?” Emma asked.

  Noah explained, “I tied the horses to a fence post while I worked on the spreader. A bolt was missing I had to replace. I heard a loud buzzing. Yellow jackets were flying around the horses' heads. There must have been a nest in the fence post. The horses panicked and started backing up to get away from the wasps. I just barely got out of the way before they broke loose and took off.”

  “Thank God, you aren't badly hurt, Noah,” Nora said, giving him a hug.

  “That was too scary for words,” Tootie declared.

  “Is there anything I can do to help you before we leave?” Emma asked.

  “Nah, you go on,” Noah said. “The horses are calming down already. They only have a few scratches we need to put some liniment on.” He looked down the lane at the tangled panels and wire laying in the grass. “We will be patching up the fence the rest of the afternoon to keep the cattle and sheep in the pasture.”

  Hal did the driving to the Yoder farm with Nora in the front seat beside her. Tootie and Emma sat in back and held the toddlers.

  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.

&nbs
p; 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.

  She took a tight grip on the seat and hopped. Jim grabbed her arm to steady her until she turned around and perched. “Good job, Nora,” he praised.

  A mile from the Rogies farm, the Lapp family found themselves in a line of buggies going to the same place they were. The wind billowed the dust up into John's buggy.

  Tootie coughed. She pulled a hanky out of her green dress pocket, put it over her nose and gave a haughty sniffle. “Inhaling all this dust can't be healthy. I don't know how you Amish do this all the time.”

  Emma patted her hand to soothe her feelings. “We are just used to it is all.”

  John pulled into the Rogies's pasture parking lot. Jim pulled in beside him. Daniel and Noah got out of the buggy . They unhitched the two horses and turn them loose in a pen by the barn. The horses trotted to the full hay manger and wedged in among the other horses.

  Most of the congregation had already arrived. Men gathered in one area of the yard. The teenage boys leaned against the barn, and teenage girls stood near the front porch giggling behind their hands about the boys. The smaller school age boys and girls stayed in their groups. The three ministers were by themselves, working out which one would speak first, second and third and discussing what their sermons would be about.

  The Lapp women entered the house and walked down the aisle between the benches to kitchen. The bench wagon was parked by the barn. The men put their black felt hats on the now empty shelves. They spent the idle time talking, each with an eye on the ministers.

  Finally at eight-thirty, Bishop Bo
ntrager led the other two ministers to the house. They sat in the three chairs up front that faced the congregation.

  The young girls sat on the women's side of the aisle. The women and smaller children up to the age of nine sat down in front of the girls before the men came in. The oldest men came first, and the others entered the house according to age down to the younger men. Cooner Jonah Rogies went outside to call in the teenage boys. The boys comb their hair and dusted off their trousers before they filed inside.

  “Page two hundred and twenty,” announced the song leader, Lawyer Jeffrey Peifer. So nicknamed because he had some legal knowledge. There was a hushed stir as everyone picked up a songbook and searched for the right page. Lawyer Jeffrey began the song Salve Regina, and everyone joined in.

  The morning sun slanted in the windows, casting its warmth on Tootie. She enjoyed singing so she tried to hum along. She hated it that she couldn't sing the words, but she didn't understand German.

  Before the song ended, her mind flitted like a butterfly in a marigold bed, darting from one thought to another. The bench is hard. How am I ever going to stand sitting here for three hours? Wonder what they fixed for lunch at a worship service? Sure hope there's some food I can eat that will agree with my poor digestive system.

  Deacon Yutzy read scripture in High German as Tootie stared at a black widow spider descending on a web attached to the bench in front of her. Just watching the large spider made her shudder in disgust. She hated creepy bugs. Amish women should be better housekeepers than this. Anna Rogies should have done a better job cleaning, especially when she knew she had a lot of people coming for the service.

  Tootie wiggled her shoe under the web. She watched as the spider inched back up toward the broad backed woman in front of her. Oh, that poor woman. The spider might bite her.

  The spider crawled on top of the bench. Tootie leaned forward and raised her hymn book. She came down with a hard swat, missed the spider and clobbered the heavy set woman's behind, making a loud splat that resounded throughout the room just as Deacon Yutzy sat down and Minister Luke Yoder, Margaret Yoder's son, stood up, ready to give the opening sermon.