Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (14 page)

“
I want you to give back the post hole digger I
loaned you last year. I think you have borrowed it long enough,
ain't so?” Peter demanded in an acid tone.

“
I did not borrow your post hole digger. It
must have been someone else. I have always had my own,” John said
calmly.

“
If that is true where is your digger,” Peter
retorted testily.

“
In the tool shed. Have not used it for some
time. My fences are all in gute shape as you can see,” John
declared. He was suddenly grateful the boys fixed the pasture fence
before Peter had a chance to see the mess it was in.

“
Can I see the digger?” Peter
demanded.

“
Jah, but will you recognize your own if you
saw it. I thought diggers all look alike,” John said, trying to
reason with the man.

“
Mine has a nick in one of the handles about
half way down. I will know it when I see it,” the old man
said.

“
Get down and come to the tool shed with
me.”

The two men went to the shed with Jim following them.
John opened the door, stepped in and looked around. He spotted his
digger in a far corner, picked it up and held it outside the door
for Peter to inspect.

The old man looked up and down the wooden handles and
ran his crooked fingers over them. “You sure you did not sand the
nick out?”

“
Nah, Peter. I did not,” John
declared.

“
And is this the only post hole digger in
there?” Peter looked around John to search the insides of the shed
for himself.

“
Jah, You can see that. This is the only digger
I have,” John said solemnly.

“
Someone must have stole my digger. I will go
home and tell my son to help me hunt the man who stole from us,”
Peter said angrily. “Gute day to you.” He hesitated when he saw
Tootie swaying back and forth in the porch swing. He walked past
his buggy and across the yard to the edge of the porch.

He took off his straw hat and smiled. “Morning,
Dolly.”

“
Morning, Peter. It's a beautiful day,” Tootie
replied softly.

“
It is that. Praise the Lord.”

Tootie patted the swing seat. “Would you like to sit
with me a spell and visit?”

Peter shook his head no and blurted out, “Would you
like to go for a ride with me and visit?”

Tootie's heart beat faster in her chest as she smiled
at him. “Where would we go?”

“
It is pretty on Bender Creek Road this time of
year. I like to drive there all the time like we used to do,” Peter
suggested.

Tootie bit her bottom lip as she felt
completely discombobulated.
The local Amish
Lover's Lane.
She wanted to say yes so
badly to go for a nice ride with Peter. If he had picked anywhere
but there
.
“I guess
not today. I'm needed here to help Hallie. Maybe some other
time.”

Peter trudged back to his buggy, climbed in and
snapped the lines over his horse's back and took off out of the
driveway.

Jim scratched a sideburn. “What do you make of that,
John?”

John couldn't help the sadness he felt when he
thought of the good, hard working man Peter once was. “The poor old
man does not know what he is doing anymore. I hope Cooner Jonah can
convince him their digger was not stolen. No one would do
that.”

“
No, I mean what do you think about Peter
talking to Tootie? Wonder what is up with that? They talked so low
I couldn't hear what they said, but they sure looked friendly,” Jim
marveled.

John shrugged. “Do not know what that was about.”

“
Guess we better go to the field now,” Jim
said.

“
Jah, mer muss hoi mache, wann die sunn
scheint,” John said, heading toward the tractor.

Jim stepped faster to catch up. “You lost me
there.”

John sat on the tractor seat. While Jim climbed up,
he grinned at his father-in-law. “I said I need to make hay while
the sun shines.” As John pulled the corn planter through the field,
he said, “So you did not have any trouble with your horse yesterday
in town.”

“
I didn't say that,” Jim replied.

John gave him a sharp look. “You did have
trouble?”

“
Nothing Daniel and I couldn't handle,” Jim
said with a shrug.

“
You want to tell me about it?”

“
Might as well as long as Nora doesn't get wind
of it. I just hate to admit that horse is smarter than me is all,”
Jim said. “Mike untied his lead rope from the hitch racks at the
stores and took off without us. We were on foot a couple times
until we found him.”

“
No wonder you were longer coming home than the
women thought you should be,” John said with a chuckle.

“
The first time the sheriff took us to where
the buggy was parked on Main Street. He acted like I was particular
for owning a buggy or something. The horse untied himself again at
the grocery store. I was hating to call the sheriff again when
Bishop Bontrager happened to come along. He helped us find the
horse and buggy that time. Would you believe he stopped in the tree
nursery rows?”

“
That so?”

“
You must have tied the knot different when you
tied Mike to your fence. He didn't get away once while he was tied
there. Reckon you could teach me a knot to use that my horse can't
figure out how to untie? I'd like to go to town and know he's going
to be where I left him. That was embarrassing, being a foot like
that,” Jim said.

“
I can do that,” John said, trying not to laugh
again.

“
Fine, and whatever you do, don't let this slip
to Nora. That woman would never let me live it down if she found
out. Once she started in on me, Tootie would side with her. They
would make my life miserable.”

“
I will not say a word,” John
declared.

Chapter 9

That evening, fourteen years old Andy Zook, drove in
to pick up Noah, Daniel and their dog. The boys had been watching
at the window, more than ready to leave with him. When Daniel
placed Biscuit in the back of the buggy with Andy's dog, the older,
territorial black hound growled at Biscuit. Daniel snatched up the
pup and sat with his back to the growling hound. It was hard to
keep Biscuit from wiggling out of his arms, but he wasn't about to
turn him loose. Andy's dog acted like he'd whip Biscuit if he could
get at him.

They drove down Bender Creek Road and came upon
several buggies parked by a small clearing on the edge of the
timber. As the three boys and their dogs walked to meet the others,
the chilly night breeze carried spring fragrances of dogwoods and
wild plum thickets.

A dozen boys stood around with a flashlight in one
hand, and a rope tethered to their dogs in the other. The dogs
sniffed at each other and growled. When the boys jerked on the
ropes to distract the dogs, the hounds leaped and pulled against
the ropes. They huffed for breath when the ropes tightened around
their necks, eager to run through the timber. Most of the dogs were
seasoned hunters wanting to try out their trailing and treeing
skills.

Biscuit didn't understand what was going on. He moved
close by Daniel's leg, licked his dangling hand and whined for
protection.

Johnnie Mast elbowed Benny Gingerich. “Look at the
Lapp hound. Ain't the little fellow something?”

“
Little young to be coon hunting, ain't so?”
Benny said to Noah.

“
We know that, but we have to start training
him by letting him run with the other dogs,” Noah
explained.

“
Do not make fun of the pup,” Jimmie Miller
defended. “He is out of my gute hound and will make a gute coon
hound.”

“
So what is the plan?” Andy Zook said to the
group.

Johnnie Mast spoke up. “We should spread out in a
line, turn our dogs loose and take off after them.”

Matthew Stoll stepped out of the group with a twenty
two rifle cradled in his arms. “I think spreading out is a gute way
to do it. Quite a few of us here.”

Noah frowned. “Matthew, why the rifle? This is not
open season on coons. We should not shoot them.”

“
I know it. Thought there might be a reason we
would need protection. I heard a mountain lion has been seen in the
area. I do not want to walk into one and not be able to defend
myself,” Matthew excused.

“
Just make sure you know what you are aiming
at. Like you said there is a bunch of us here in the dark,” Andy
Zook warned.

They scattered out and turned their dogs loose along
Bender Creek. The boys and dogs made a tremendous rustling noise
tramping in the deep leaves. Hidden branches crackled and popped
under the many feet.

After they were by themselves, Daniel listened for
any noise he couldn't tell what was. He whispered to Noah, “Not
much chance of a mountain lion sticking around with all this noise,
ain't so?”

“
Nah,” Noah agreed. “But Matthew was just using
that as an excuse to carry his rifle.”

With wide eyes, Daniel glanced around the
surroundings. “We are sure that a Sneak Upon has not followed Dawdi
Jim from up north and is hiding behind a tree, ain't so?”

“
Daniel, you should not let your imagination
get the better of you, or we will never be able to concentrate on
teaching Dog how to coon hunt,” Noah scolded. “We better catch up
to the pup so we do not lose him.”

Biscuit put his head down, trailing in front of them.
Occasionally, his head perked up, his ears wiggled and his nose
twitched, trying to pick up certain scents in the air.

Noah said, “He sure does act like he knows what he is
doing.”

Ahead of them and off to the side, a hound bayed loud
and clear on the trail of a coon. Soon the boys heard the
distinctive bawl of a dog's tree bark off to their left.

“
Should we see what's going on?” Daniel
asked.

“
Nah, we need to keep following Dog,” Noah
said.

Suddenly, Biscuit woofed and froze in his tracks. He
stared straight ahead. His body turned rigid. His head went up, and
his nose wiggled as he sniffed the air. Suddenly, he charged the
gooseberry thicket in front of them.

As Biscuit fought his way into the brambles, a
throaty growl shattered the darkness, warning the dog to stay away.
Biscuit was more curious than scared. He dove into the middle of
the thicket, bawling a challenge.

Noah and Daniel raced to his aid, whooping for the
dog to come to them. Daniel cried in delight, “Dog has already
found himself a coon.”

“
Sure sounds like it,” Noah replied. “But a
coon can whip that pup. We got to get him out of there.”

Too late! The sounds of a fight broke out. Biscuit
whimpered and yelped during the loud thrashing in the bushes.
Growls and deep hisses came from a cornered animal. By the time the
boys reached the edge of the thicket, the dog came crashing out of
the bushes and raced at them. He ran into Noah and knocked him
down. Biscuit picked himself up. He shivered and whined by Noah's
side, licking the boy's face.

Daniel grabbed the dog and held him. “Are you hurt,
Boy?” Biscuit whimpered and snuggled close for protection.

“
You are not worried about me, ain't so? I am
the one that took a tumble,” groused Noah.

“
You look all recht to me so get up,” Daniel
said and put his attention back on their dog.

On the backside of the thicket, the coon crashed out
of the gooseberry bushes and rustled dry leaves. Daniel stuttered,
“Noah, we – we better run for it. That coon Dog cornered was too
big for him or us to handle if it is mad enough to fight .”

“
Nah, listen. He is running away from us,” Noah
reasoned.

“
Gute. We better get back out on the road and
shine our flashlight on Dog. He is trembling something awful. He
may be hurt,” Daniel fretted.

In the flashlight's glow, Noah examined the scratches
around the pup's face. “Not very deep but those rips in his hide
were caused by sharp claws. That is for sure.”

“
Think that run in will scare Dog enough he
will not want to hunt again,” Daniel worried.

“
Nah, hunting is bred into a coon hound. He
will be all right once he gets a little age to him.” Noah added,
“And wiser. Next time, he might not tackle a coon if he finds one
on the ground.”

Two of the boys burst out of the underbrush and
rushed to them. Andy Zook asked, “That little pup find a coon? We
heard you whoop.”

Daniel stood taller as he elbowed Noah and whispered,
“I'm going to pull one on Matthew for saying there was a mountain
lion in these parts.” He said to the boys, “We have had a time of
it over in that gooseberry thicket. This dog of ours cornered
himself that mountain lion.”

“
Surely not!” Andy looked doubtful.

“
Did you see that cat for yourself?” Matthew
Stoll asked disbelievingly.

Noah said, “Just shine your light on this dog's face.
See the scratches if you do not believe us.”

“
What happened?” Bennie asked, curious for
their story.

“
Our dog stood right up to that cat and ran him
off. If I was you guys, I would get out of the timber. It was too
dark to see which way that old lion went when he ran off,” Daniel
boasted.

Andy Zook said, “We have made enough racket to scare
the coons into hiding. We might as well call it a night.” He turned
toward the timber, cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered,
“Come on in. Time to go home.”