by Risner, Fay
“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.”
“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 EMT
s 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.”
“Obviously, the boy didn't pay any mind to what you said,” the sheriff replied.
“Matthew did lay the rifle back in his buggy while Noah was watching him,” Daniel said. “We saw him do it. He must have picked it back up after we left.”
“I see,” the sheriff said. “You boys have been a big help. From now on if you're out at night with other boys training your dogs, you remind them about what happened to Matthew Stoll. I don't want to hear about any guns. I sure don't want to have another shooting accident to investigate. Looks like Matthew is going to pull through. The next time this happens the boy who shoots himself or someone else may not come out of the accident alive. When Matthew is up to talking to me, I'm going to tell him the same thing I just told you.”
“Jah, Sheriff,” Noah said.
“You have anything else to add, Daniel, or is what Noah said all you know about this incident?” The sheriff asked.
“Noah told it all,” Daniel said, studying his bare feet.
“All right, just try to be very careful from now on and do the safe thing,” the sheriff stressed.
“Jah, I agree,” John said, coming forward. “We have an old saying. You can not help it if a bird flies down and sits on your head, but you can help it if a bird is making a nest on your head.”
The sheriff thought about that a second. He grinned. “I believe you have something there, John Lapp. Oh, your father-in-law keeping better track of his courting buggy these days?”
John grinned. “Jah, he found out what the problem was. The horse knows how to untie a slip knot and take off on his own.”
“Well, isn't that something?” The sheriff chuckled. “You men have a good afternoon. I got to get back to the office and write out that report.”
The women cooked for the school fund raiser all afternoon. They prepared potato salad, a large bowl of canned peas, and three white cakes.
Nora sat down at the table with a cup of hot tea. “This reminds me of when I was about Emma's age. What fun the box socials were when we had fund raisers for our country school. Weren't they, Tootie?”
“Yes, especially when we had a beau we were struck on.” Tootie giggled as she sat down across from Nora.
“A
beau?” Emma asked, pouring a cup of tea for Hal and herself.
Hal said, “That was a boyfriend in their day.”
“I see. What were those socials like?” Emma asked, sitting down beside Hal.
“Oh, you probably wouldn't care about our stories,” Nora said.
“Jah, we both would,” Hal urged. “So tell us.”
“Those box suppers were events of great importance in our teenage years. There wasn't many events to take a girl to for a date,” Tootie said, her eyes sparkling. “The mothers and daughters prepared lunches in boxes decorated with ribbons and bows.
We filled the boxes with the most delicious foods our mother could cook for us. In those days, it was chicken, duck, goose, venison, beef, pork quail or rabbit. There would be salads, canned, pickled and preserved foods, vegetables of all kinds, homemade bread slices with jellies, pieces of pies and cakes arranged in the boxes to catch the eye and stomach of our beaus. Isn't that so, Sister?”
Nora said in a far away voice, “It is. The box socials took place at the schoolhouse usually on a night in early fall. A fire roared in the cast-iron potbellied stove to warm the place up.
We didn't have electricity in those days. Kerosene lamps set on shelves high around the room. One on the teacher's desk by the stacked boxes, waiting for the auctioneer to sell them to the highest bidder.”
“Having a date was so romantic,” Tootie said dreamily.
Hal winked at Emma, and she responded with a bashful smile.
Nora said, “A great to do had been going on with each boy who was sparking. That's what we called it when we dated a boy. I believe English teens call it going steady these days.
Each girl's beau was trying to get her to talk about her box. He hoped to get her to make a slip so he'd find out how she decorated her box. That would help him recognize it.”
Tootie butted in. “He wanted to bid the highest on her box, to the exclusion of all others for the sweet privilege of sitting and eating with the girl of his choice.”