Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

  “Cooner Jonah said large gatherings like the Sunday services make Peter verhuddelt,” John relayed.

  “If Peter is confused that is not a gute sign. When we go to the birthday party, I'll see how he acts.” Hal blew out the lamp. She got in bed, pulled the covers up over her and turned on her side toward her husband. “I noticed Peter is not the only one who is verhuddelt. The boys have trouble remembering the dog's name. Is there a reason for that?”

  “Might be,” John said. “You want to know the truth or not?”

  “You can tell me. I'm a big girl now,” Hal said, grinning.

  “The boys remember the dog's name with no trouble. They have trouble referring to their coon dog by the name Biscuit.”

  “Oh, I see.” Hal giggled.

  “What is so funny?” John asked.

  “I thought that might be what's wrong,” Hal said. “They thought they had to give me the privilege of naming their dog so I'd let them keep him.”

  “Jah.”

  “It serves them right for letting me pick the name to bribe me into letting them have a puppy,” Hal said.

  John's eyes widened. “You gave the dog the name Biscuit for that reason. That was mean.”

  “If you remember I was feeling mean that day anyway.”

  John chuckled. “Real out of sorts as I recall. So how long are you going to keep the boys on the hook about the dog's name.”

  “I haven't decided yet,” Hal said with a soft laugh. “Besides, they seemed to have found a way around their problem.”

  “They have. Your father helped with that,” John shared.

  “I might have known,” Hal said drowsily.

  It was the middle of the night when a piercing scream broke the silence. John and Hal bolted upright in bed.

  Hal said, “What was that?”

  “You have two choices – a Sneak Upon or your Aendi Tootie,” John grumbled.

  “If it was Aunt Tootie she must have dozed back off. I don't hear anything now so I'm not getting out of bed to go downstairs to see about her.” Hal turned on her side to get comfortable again.

  About an hour later, loud moans and groans came from downstairs. Hal rubbed her eyes and stared at the dark bedroom door. Down the hall she heard her mother grumble, “You and your monster stories. See what I told you. When are you going to learn not to tell scary tales around my sister?”

  Disturbing sounds carried up the stairs for a minute then quiet reigned again. Hal listened for footsteps. Sure enough she heard the patter of bare feet downstairs. As much to herself as John, she said, “I better go see about her.”

  Hal met Daniel coming out of his room. “What are you doing up?”

  Daniel sounded concerned. “I thought Aendi Tootie might need me. I understand what she is going through.”

  “Gute thinking,” Hal said. “You can get the glass of water she said wakes her up.”

  “You want me to come with you, Hal,” Nora's sleepy voice called.

  Hal answered, “It's all right, Mom. Stay in bed. I'll go take care of Aunt Tootie.”

  Hal and Daniel eased the clinic door open and peeked in. Tootie was pacing back and forth, mumbling and groaning. Hal eased over to the elderly woman and took her by the arm. She directed Tootie toward the bed.

  Daniel came with the water. “Come on, Aendi Tootie. Get back in bed and warm up. I brought you some water.

  Tootie laid down, and Hal pulled the covers over her. Daniel started to give her a drink but brought the glass back in a hurry to keep the elderly woman from spilling it. Tootie tossed and turned in a dreaming fit as she fought to kick the covers off. “Get away from this bed, Sneak Upon. Get out of this room.”

  “She's still asleep,” Daniel said.

  “She thinks you're the monster. We better wake her up, or she's going to be the only one that gets any sleep for the rest of the night,” Hal said. “Keep the glass close so we can get water in her.” She patted Tootie's arm. “Wake up. Wake up now.”

  The elderly woman sat up in bed. “Wh – What is going on?”

  “You're having a bad dream,” Hal said. “We didn't want to disturb you, but we thought it would be better for you to wake up and go back to sleep.”

  Tootie patted Hal's hand. “You're so thoughtful, Dear.”

  “Here is a glass of water to drink. It will help,” Daniel said.

  Tootie patted his hand on the glass. “You're thoughtful too, Dear.” She took the glass from him and drank half a glass.

  “You go back to sleep, Aendi Tootie. You are all right now,” Daniel said to comfort her.

  “I know I am with a brave boy like you in the house to take care of me,” Tootie said. “Good night.”

  By the time Hal and Daniel made it to the door, Tootie filled the room with snuffling snores.

  Hal softly shut the door. “Maybe that will muffle her snores so we can sleep.”

  Chapter 8

  The next morning was wash day. Hal carried buckets of water to the washing machine while Emma fixed breakfast. Once Hal had the clothes sorted in piles in the mudroom, she threw in a load of shirts, started the machine and listened to the swish swish of the agitator a minute before she added the soap.

  “Good morning, Hal,” Nora said. Tootie was behind her sister, shuffling in her fuzzy pink slippers.

  “Morning, Mom. Morning, Aunt Tootie,” Hal greeted.

  They all found something to do to get breakfast ready. After a silent prayer, Jim announced, “I'm going for a buggy ride this morning to Wickenburg and back. Anyone care to go with me?”

  Nora and Tootie chased their eggs and sausages on their plate instead of answering Jim. Daniel looked around the table. No one else offered. “I would like to go. Is that all recht, Daed?”

  “All recht with me,” John agreed. He was glad someone wanted to ride along. He didn't like the idea of Jim on the road by himself.

  Hal said, “I have some things you can get me at the grocery store while you're in town.”

  “I could use a bottle of hand lotion,” Tootie said, giving a disgruntled sniff. “My hands are drying out from washing so many dishes.”

  “I need a bottle of no scented bath soap as long as you're going,” Nora added. “Mine's about gone.”

  “Better write that stuff all down, or I'll forget half of it,” Jim told them.

  After breakfast, Tootie started for the tea kettle. Hal stopped her. “This morning, Emma's going to wash dishes, Aunt Tootie. You and I are going to hang out the basket of clothes I washed. That will give your poor, dry hands a rest.”

  “I don't know if I can,” Tootie groaned. “My knees are bothering me this morning.”

  Nora said, “Tootie, you might find your knees won't hurt as bad if you exercise them. Standing at the sink in one place won't do the trick.”

  “All right,” Tootie said. “Let me get my shoes on.”

  When they came back to wring out a load of dresses, Hal asked Tootie and Nora to bring their dirty clothes. After she threw in a load of their clothes, she said, “Let's go hang up the dresses, Aunt Tootie.”

  Hal pointed to a wren hiding in the new leaves on the maple tree. “Listen to that wren. He loves to sing to us. Follows me around the place all the time.”

  “Cute little bird,” Tootie said approvingly as she reached into the basket. She shook out a dress and pinned it to the line. Her mind kept going back to her Sunday walk with Peter Rogies. She smiled pleasantly as she picked up another crumpled dress.

  They had just about emptied the last basket when an open buggy came down the road and turned into the driveway.

  Tootie nodded behind Hal. “You have company coming.”

  Hal twisted to look. “It's Peter Rogies. Wonder what he wants this morning?” Tootie edged along behind Hal and waited for the elderly man to stop.

  Hal greeted him. “Morning, Peter. Get down and come in.”

  “No time for that,” Peter said curtly as he looked around. He focused on Tootie. “Morning.”
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  “Morning, Peter,” Tootie responded brightly.

  Peter pulled his attention back to Hal, “I came to talk to John Lapp.”

  “He's in the field. He won't be back until dinner time.”

  “I will come back,” Peter replied flatly. He flicked the lines over his horse's back.

  Disappointed, Tootie watched as Peter drove away. He should have been nicer. She couldn't help some tongue clicking. “He wasn't very friendly, was he?”

  Hal was wondering what Peter's visit was about. “Nah, he wasn't. We should go in and help Emma and Mom now.”

  Daniel and Jim were on their way to Wickenburg when Peter Rogies's buggy passed them on his way to the Lapp farm. Daniel waved, but the elderly man stared straight ahead.

  They passed a barefoot child by the side of the road, watching the family dog jump through the ditch weeds. Daniel waved at him.

  “Know that fellow?” Jim asked.

  “Jah, I go to school with Andy Stoll.”

  They crossed the bridge over Bender Creek. Child like laughter echoed under the bridge. Daniel straightened up. Boys his age were wading along the edge of the creek. Wistfully, he thought that looked like fun.

  When they reached the city limits, Jim blew out a sigh of relief. Mike had trotted the whole way without paying any attention to the traffic. “I believe we have Mike cured of his highway fright.”

  “Jah, he did gute,” Daniel agreed.

  “Where do we go to find hand lotion and no scented bath soap?” Jim wondered.

  “The Walmart is close by,” Daniel said.

  Jim stopped at the Walmart hitch rack. He climbed down and tied the lead rope in a double slip knot. “Okay, now let's see if we find what we came for.”

  “Will we have time to look around a little for ourselves?” Daniel asked.

  “I don't see why not. Half the fun of shopping is the looking,” Jim said.

  An hour later, they came out of the store. Each was carrying a sack. “I sure hope I bought the right stuff,” Jim worried. “Women are particular about their personal stuff you know.”

  Daniel replied, “Nah, I do not know. I am not particular, Dawdi. I like very much the candy in my sack.”

  “I thought you might,” Jim said, winking at him.

  An enclosed buggy had parked next to their space. They walked around it. Their parking space was empty.

  “Where's my horse and buggy?” Jim exclaimed.

  Daniel glanced around the parking lot. “I do not see them anywhere.”

  “Someone stole my rig!” Jim declared.

  “I would not think that happened,” Daniel said.

  “We better call the sheriff's office and report this anyway. Come on back to the store with me.”

  Jim wasn't sure where he could find a phone. Along the side of the store were shops, but one heading said Exchanges and Returns. “Think we could ask the woman behind that counter if we can use her phone to call for help?”

  “Jah, but if she can not help us, ask her where we can find a phone,” Daniel said uncertainly.

  Jim went to the counter. “Good Morning.”

  The middle aged woman asked, “You want exchange or return?”

  Daniel spoke up. “We want return. My dawdi's buggy is missing.”

  The woman peered down her nose at him. “That's too bad. Now how can I help you.”

  Jim said, “I want to report my buggy stolen to the sheriff department. I need to find a phone.”

  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.”