by Risner, Fay
At day break, the men trudged back empty handed to the school. The women uncovered the food and let them eat from what was left on the table. Regrettably the farmers had to give up the search long enough to go home and do chores.
John threw his paper plate in the trash. “Hal, I hate to stop looking, but I have to milk. I'll be back as soon as I can.”
“I'm going to look for Peter and Aunt Tootie while you're gone,” Hal said.
“I do not think that is wise after the way Peter treated you at the birthday party,” John objected.
“Peter won't always act the same from day to day. By now I don't think he can remember what happened on his birthday. I'm not afraid,” Hal said.
“All recht, take Noah and Daniel with you. I do not want you out in that timber alone. Jim and me will get back here as soon as we can,” John said. “The timber is a big area to cover. We have taken way too much time looking for Peter and Aendi Tootie already. If we do not find them by noon, we will ask the Wickenburg fire department to send out a search party to help us before another night comes on us.”
Hal searched for Noah among a group of boys in the yard. “Your daed is going home to do chores.”
“Does he want me to go with him?” Noah asked.
“Nah, Grandpa is going to help him. I want you and Daniel to come with me to search for Peter and Aunt Tootie. Are you too tired to keep searching after a long night?”
“Nah,” Noah said.
“Daniel, are you too tired?” Hal asked.
“Nah,” he said.
Anna Rogies heard her. “All the women and older children can scatter out and hunt. We have dozed off and on through the night so we are more rested than the men. I can not stand this waiting and doing nothing.”
“All recht, let's do it,” Hal said.
“I'll go tell the women. Someone will have to stay with the smaller children,” Anna said, heading back to the school.
David Rogies suggested, “My daed has a tracker coon hound. We should go get him.”
“That's a gute idea,” Hal said. “Noah, take your grandfather's buggy and go with David to get the dog.”
When they drove in at the Rogies farm, David said, “I need to find a piece of Dawdi's clothing to let the dog sniff so he knows what scent to track.” The boy ran to the dawdi house and came back with a pair of dirty socks. “These have plenty of scent in them.”
“I will say they do,” Noah said, waving his hand in front of his nose.
David grinned. “Dawdi forgets to change his clothes until Daed makes him.”
Cooner Jonah came out of the barn. “What are you boys up to?”
Noah explained the plan while David put a rope loop around the red hound's neck and lifted him up into the buggy. When they arrived at the school, the women had already scattered out. Hal, Emma and Daniel were the only ones waiting with Nora and Stella Strutt inside the school with the small children. Most of them were still asleep.
The boys jumped from the buggy, and the dog leaped down. David tried to hold the hound back as he lunged forward and tugged at the rope.
Hal was watching at the window. “Noah and David are back. We can start now.”
Stella Strutt fanned her worried face. “I do not think I will be very gute at trying to keep up in the timber.”
Hal said, “That's all right. You stay here and help my mother take care of the little ones. Why don't you sing hymns. It will calm the children. If Peter and Aunt Tootie come back you can keep them here. Peter would like hearing songs if he's wandering close by.”
“Boys, get the dog started,” Hal said. “When you take the rope off roll it up and bring it along for later to lead the dog back.”
Noah held the socks down for the dog to sniff. Hal wondered how old the hound was. His body was so thin she could count his ribs. He looked as old as Peter.
David took the rope from around the dog's neck. “Find Dawdi Peter, Mose.”
The dog took off in a clumsy ambling gait that made his long ears flop up and down. His front end looked to be going one way and his back end the opposite direction. He hunkered down and slid under the fence. The boys climbed over and waited for Hal and Emma.
Hal had to fight her skirt while she lifted one leg over and then the other. She said under her breath, “I wish I had on a pair of slacks. Fence climbing would be so much easier.” After she finally made it over, she said, “Okay, your turn, Emma. Let me tell you that was not easy.”
“Never is,” Emma acknowledge with a grin. “But the bible says in Deuteronomy, The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God.” By the time she was done reciting, Emma had mastered the fence.
Hal watched, hoping she'd learn the technique before she had to go back over the fence. “Jesus wore a robe, but he didn't have a reason to complain. There were no barbed wire fences in his day to get his skirt hung up on.”
“Hallie,” Emma warned and looked around to see how close the other women might be. She didn't want them to hear her stepmother make such remarks.
The boys whooped at the dog, but Mose was almost out of sight in the underbrush, sniffing the trail and baying his find. Suddenly, the dog stopped, giving them time to catch up. He bayed deeply, raised his head to sniff the air and took off again. He had Peter's trail.
After an hour in the timber, Hal said, “I swear I remember seeing that snarled oak tree more than once.”
Noah agreed, “You did. The dog has been circling the same area.”
David said, “Dawdi Peter and your Aendi Tootie must be wandering in a circle.”
“Sounds like they are,” Hal said.
From off in the distance, Mose bayed a tree bark.
Daniel grabbed Noah's arm. “Listen, Mose has something treed.”
“Let's just hope it isn't an old coon,” Emma said.
Daniel grinned. “Maybe Barabbas. He might have stayed in this timber after we turned him loose here.”
“Oh, please, do not let it be so,” Emma cried.
Noah said, “Do not worry, Sister. He would be glad to see you again.”
“He gave you a big hug before we turned him loose. Remember?” Daniel asked and teased, “He liked you.”
As Hal made her way through the underbrush she said, “Keep moving, boys. Peter and Aunt Tootie have been out here through the chilly night. It is not gute for them. We need to hurry.”
David cupped his hands around his mouth and called, “Dawdi Peter.”
Hal reached over and grabbed the boy's arm. “Maybe we should not call out. It might frighten Peter into walking away from us if he heard us call for him. He's confused.”
David nodded he understood.
Mose's bay grew louder and longer as they closed in on the dog. Finally, they entered a small clearing. Tootie was limply propped up against the rough bark of a hickory nut tree with Peter's head in her lap. Mose was licking first the elderly man's face then Tootie's.
Peter said weakly to the dog. “Gute to see you, Pet.”
Hal put her arms out to stop the others. “Be very quiet and stay back. I'm going to them, and see how they are.” She knelt down in the leaves. “Gute morning, Peter and Aunt Tootie.”
“I'm glad you found us, Dear,” Tootie said wearily.
For a moment, Peter puzzled about who she was as he focused on Hal. As recognition came to him, he broke into a smile. “Sara, I found you. I looked for you for so long I had to give up and rest. It turned cold out here. Are you all recht?”
“Jah, I'm fine. We need to find a place where it's warm for all of us,” Hal said softly.
Peter breathed with a rattling wheeze as he spoke, “I am so stiff I am not able to move.”
“I brought some boys and Emma to help.” Hal said softly, “Boys.” She kept her attention on Peter as she stretched her arm out slowly and wrapped her fingers around his wrist to feel his pulse. “We will need a li
tter made to carry Peter. Have you all got a pocket knife?”
“Jah,” the boys said in unison.
“Go get two sturdy limbs longer than Peter and cut enough small ones to space along the carrying poles so we can tie them on. That will be the litter,” Hal instructed.
“What are we going to use to tie the sticks on with?” Noah asked.
“Our shoe strings,” Hal said.
“How is he?” Emma asked.
Peter's head bobbed over toward his left shoulder, and his eyes went shut. Hal looked doubtful. “Pulse is very weak. Lungs are congested. We have to carry him out of here and get him and Aunt Tootie to the hospital as soon as we can. Aunt Tootie, how do you feel?”
“I'm fine.”
“Are you able to walk?”
“I will be glad to walk to get out of here. This timber has been a nightmare,” the elderly woman whimpered.
The boys scattered into the underbrush. After the sound of snapping twigs, Noah said, “The sticks are cut for the litter.”
“Everyone take out your shoe strings.” Hal unlaced her shoe strings and handed them to Noah. “Make sure to bound the sticks gute and tight. Cover the litter with pine boughs and leaves to cushion it for easier riding.”
Mose ambled up and sniffed at Peter, expecting a greeting. “David, catch the dog and tie him to a bush so he can't bother your grandfather.” Hal stuck her arm out in front of the dog to keep him away.
David scrambled to the dog and put the loop around his neck, tightened it and secured him to a nearby gooseberry bush.
“We have the litter ready, Mama Hal,” Daniel said quietly.
“Gute, now bring the litter here and lay it beside Peter.” Peter opened his eyes at the mention of his name. “Peter, these boys and Emma are going to help you onto this bed.” She stood up and turned to the boys. “Say very little to him. Take hold of him under his arms and legs and lift him onto the litter gently. He thinks I'm his wife so let him think that.” Hal got middle ways of the litter and knelt again. “When you have lifted Peter, I'm going to put my arms under his middle to support him until we get him centered. Now on the count of three.”
Swiftly, the children lifted and placed the elderly man over the litter and held him up until Hal removed her arms. She stood up and backed out of the way. “David, do you want to lead your dog or carry your grandfather?”
David looked confused.
Hal said, “The job you don't want I'll take.”
“I can help lift my dawdi if you want to lead the dog. Dawdi Peter will be heavy,” David offered.
Hal put her arm under Tootie's arm and lifted her to her feet. “Can you stand all right?”
“I'm fine, Dear,” Tootie assured her.
Hal went over to the bush to untie Mose. He bounded ahead of her, thinking he was free. She had to give a hard tug on his rope to slow him down. She put her free hand under Tootie's arm and supported her.
The four children took an end of the litter and lifted. Hal cautioned, “Try to balance Peter and watch where you walk. It will not help him if you trip and drop him.”
When they got back to the school, the children helped Hal transfer Peter to a bench. They scattered to round up all the other women hunting in the timber. Nora and Stella went to the remaining buggies for blankets to cover Peter. Nora put one around Tootie's shoulders, but she took the blanket off and rolled it up tight. She stuffed it under Peter's head for a pillow. Then she sat down across from him on a bench and held his limp hand. His eyes were shut, and he was very still except for wheezing when he exhaled. The women all gathered around, knelt down and prayed for him.
The boys scattered in buggies to tell the men the search was over. Hal sent Emma to the nearest phone shed to call an ambulance. “Emma, when the ambulance gets close to the school tell them Nurse Hal requests no sirens. I don't want the patient to become upset by the noise.”
When Cooner Jonah parked his buggy in the yard and started for the building, Hal was watching out the window. Peter had his eyes open. She said, “Peter, here comes your son. He has been worried about you.”
Peter's face was blank as he looked at the man in the doorway. “That is not my son. My son left home a long time ago and turned English. He is never coming home again.”
Cooner Jonah's eyes filled with tears when he heard his father's words.
Hal said to the old man, “My mistake, Peter, but you do live with this man and his wife, Anna. They're going to go with you to the doctor in Wickenburg.” Hal told Cooner Jonah, “I had Emma call an ambulance. Your father is in poor shape right now from exposure.”
The ambulance emergency crew pulled up in front of the school. Daryl and Ivan carried in a stretcher and placed Peter on it. The elderly man became more alert after they moved him. “I am very tired and cold.” Ivan pulled the blankets over him and buckled the stretcher straps. Peter held his hand out to Tootie. “Dolly, you are coming with me, ain't so?”
“I want her to be checked by the doctor in ER,” Hal told Daryl. She asked Cooner Jonah and Anna, “Will it be all right with you if Aunt Tootie rides with Peter?”
Cooner Jonah said to the EMTs, “Please, let her go with my father. It might keep him calm to have his friend with him.”
Tootie took hold of Peter's limp hand. “I'm going to the doctor with you.”
“Remember your promise. You will tell the truth,” Peter urged.
“Yes, I will take care of it,” Tootie said. “Now rest.”
The elderly man closed his eyes and let the EMTs transfer him. Hal rode up front with the driver, Steven. The Rogies followed the ambulance in their buggy.
In the hospital, Peter was put in one emergency exam room and Tootie in another. Hal explained Peter's condition and her findings to Doctor Christensen. While he did an extensive exam on Peter, Hal sat with Tootie.
Nurse Lucy Stineford redressed Peter, while the doctor went next door to examined Tootie. He asked, “How do you feel?”
Tootie said, “I'm fine. Just tired and cold.”
Dr. Christensen patted her on the shoulder. “I shouldn't wonder with all you've been through. You go home, take a hot bath and get into bed for a long rest.” He turned to Hal. “Now I have to talk to Peter Rogies family. Want to go with me to the waiting room?”
“Sure,”Hal said and turned to her aunt. “Aunt Tootie, I'll be back soon.”
“I'll explain my findings on the way.” By the time Hal was updated on Peter's condition, they reached the waiting room. Hal introduced Peter's son and his wife to the doctor. Doctor Christensen shook hands with them and got down to business. “Your father has many problems right now. Alzheimer's disease is taking its toll on him mentally and physically. The exposure last night while he wondered around in the timber weakened him. I seriously doubt Peter is ever going to be able to get out of bed again. From what I know of your customs, I expect you're going to take Peter back to your home. Is that right?”
Cooner Jonah said, “Jah, that is recht.”
“He's going to need nursing care around the clock. He will not eat very much from now on, and his appetite will decrease to nothing in time. I don't know how long it will take, but your father is going to die soon,” the doctor said to Cooner Jonah.
“Denki for telling us, Doctor. It is God's will. We will take gute care of him,” Anna said.
“In that case, Peter can go home with you now. Do you want him to ride to your house in an ambulance?” The doctor asked.
“Nah, we will make a bed for him in the floor of the enclosed buggy. That will be gute enough until we get him home,” Cooner Jonah said.
“I'll get some help to bring Peter to the buggy on a stretcher,” the doctor said.
Hal went to tell Tootie about Peter.
“Can I see him before we leave?” Tootie asked.
“Sure, come with me,” Hal said.
Tootie walked over to the bed and patted Peter's hand. His eyelids fluttered and then he focused on her. She said, “I'll
be over to see you as soon as I have rested up.”
He gave her a weak smile. “You remember to keep your promise.”
Tootie sighed. “Yes, I'll remember. You rest easy.”
Hal and Tootie met Jim and Noah coming through the emergency room exit doors. “We thought maybe you two needed a ride,” Jim said. “Tootie, are you all right?”
“I just need some rest. A ride with you might not do it,” she replied. “You aren't going to fit all of us in that courting buggy.”
Jim grinned. “Ah, Tootie, stop worrying. I brought my car.”
Hal slid into the back seat with Tootie and thought she caught a faint hint of rose perfume. Once they were settled, she said, “Aunt Tootie, what did Peter want you to promise to do for him.”
Tootie studied her hands in her lap a moment. When she looked over at Hal, she came up with a reasonable explanation. “I promised to visit him after he gets home.”
Chapter 17
The next morning, Nurse Hal made her first visit to the Rogies farm. When Anna took her to Peter in the spare bedroom, their voices woke him up. His eyes followed Hal as she came around the bed. “Gute Morning, Peter. I'm Nurse Hal. I stopped by to see how you're doing this morning.”
“Guder Mariye,” Peter said weakly.
“Would you like to sit up in bed? I can prop the pillows behind you,” Hal said.
“Jah, sit me up.”
“Anna, hold him upright while I place the pillows against the bedstead.”
Once Peter was sitting, Nurse Hal took his vitals. “Did you rest well last night?”
“Jah, I did,” Peter replied, disappointed as he looked around the room. “I was hoping my special friend would be with you. The young woman that stays with you.”
“Ach, Dolly?” Peter nodded. “She is still resting up. Do you want her to come visit?” Hal asked.
“Jah, I want to have her come be with me,” Peter said.
“All recht, I will see what I can do,” Hal told him. “Now I must leave to finish my rounds. See you soon, Peter.” She patted his frail hand. He gave her a weak smile and closed his eyes.