Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish (2 page)

“Jah, and there is so much to do. My parents
can sleep in the spare room, but where are we going to put Aunt
Tootie?” Hal worried.

“She can sleep with me,” Emma offered.

“Oh, no! Trust me. You don't want Aunt Tootie
to sleep with you,” Hal declared.

“I do not understand why not. I am sure I
will be able to endure her for the short time they are here,” Emma
said.

“Nah, you will not. Where do you think she
got the name Tootie?” Hal exclaimed, slumping in the chair.

Emma looked puzzled then her eyes widen.
“Oh.”

Noah and Daniel put their hands to their
mouths and giggled.

Hal leaned back against the chair. It
appeared she had run out of steam.

This was as good a time as any to get Hal's
mind on something else. John said, “The boys have something to show
you.”

Daniel stepped around Noah and stood in front
of Hal, holding the wiggling puppy. “Jimmie Miller is weaning a
litter of pups. He let us bring this one home on approval. If you
like the puppy we can keep him. If you do not like him, we will
take him back.”

“I see. He sure is a cute little fellow,” Hal
said holding her hands out.

Daniel gave her the puppy while Noah said,
“If you like him, you can name him for us.”

Hal studied the boys and then the puppy. “Let
me get this straight. If I name him, you get to keep the
puppy?”

Noah wasn't sure what was the right thing to
answer since Mama Hal hadn't been too happy. “I guess that is
recht.”

“What an honor to be able to name the puppy.
Denki, boys. Emma, what do you think of him?” Hal asked. She
twisted in the chair and held the puppy out where Emma could see
him.

Emma put the cake pan in the oven, before she
focused on the pup. “He is a sweet puppy right now while he is in
your lap. It wonders me the bedevilment he will be full of when he
is turned loose on us.”

“Sister, that describes all puppies,” Noah
defended.

Daniel hissed at Emma. “It is either a puppy
or another raccoon. Which would you rather we get for a pet?”

“No question. The puppy,” Emma relented
quickly.

Hal held the puppy up, inspecting his chubby
body and long ears. The pup sniffed at her, gave her cheek a lick
of approval with his pink tongue and yipped in her face. “He's such
a pretty cream color. Reminds me of one of Emma's biscuits. I think
I'll name him Biscuit.”

Daniel's mouth fell open.

Noah looked helplessly at his father.

The corner of John's lips twitched in good
humor at his sons' chagrin. Daniel opened his mouth to protest the
puppy's new name, but John stopped him. “Boys, better find a place
to settle the puppy so you can help me milk and get the calves
bottle fed.”

“Jah, Daed.” Daniel sounded dispirited.

“Where are you going to put him?” Hal asked.
“The nights are still chilly.”

“In one of the pens in the barn with clean
straw bedding to snuggle in,” Noah said. “He slept in the barn at
the Miller farm.”

“By himself?” Hal asked.

“Nah, he was with the rest of the litter,”
Daniel told her.

“I thought as much. They kept each other warm
at night,” Hal said. “If you find a box big enough Biscuit couldn't
crawl out of, he could stay in the mud room for a couple of weeks.
At least until it warms up at night. Think that would be all right,
John?”

“Jah, that would be fine,” John agreed. “Now
we have to go to work. Noah, you help me. Daniel, you get the box
prepared then bottle feed the calves.”

As they walked to the barn, Noah said, “Daed,
we can not name the dog Biscuit. That is not a fit name for a
dog.”

“Help us talk Mama Hal into a different name.
One that is for dogs,” Daniel said, tagging along.

“It will not be wise for you to back out on
letting Hal name the puppy right now. She is upset enough about her
aunt coming. She might not take kindly to hearing you do not like
her name for the dog. Best stick to your bargain, and be thankful
she is letting you keep him. I am hoping the puppy will give her
something to think about instead of the company coming.”

“But, Daed, how is that going to sound when
we take this dog coon hunting with the other boys, and we're
calling in the dark timber come here Biscuit,” Noah groaned.

“They are all going to have a good laugh at
us. That is what will happen,” Daniel complained.

“I expect they will,” John said,
chuckling.

That night during supper, Hal quietly worried
about all that needed done before next Tuesday. She pushed her food
around on her plate, hardly eating anything.

Daniel rose in his chair enough that he could
reach across the table and pick up the butter dish. Hal frowned. On
top of everything else, both boys needed to remember to use manners
around her parents and aunt. “Daniel, instead of reaching across
the table for the butter, the polite thing to do is say please pass
me the butter.”

Daniel bowed his head. “Sorry, Mama Hal.”

“It's all right this time. It's just that I
want us to put our best manners on while we have company with us,”
Hal explained.

The next few days passed by in a fast
whirlwind of activity as Hal and Emma rushed to clean the house and
air out the spare room for Hal's parents.

When the boys came in one afternoon, Emma
sent them to the basement to sweep and clean down the cobwebs.

“We are sure going to a lot of work for
company,” Noah complained.

Daniel grumped, “You would think Aendi Tootie
and Mammi Nora do not ever see a speck of dust.”

“They do not from the way Mama Hal is
acting,” Noah replied as he swiped the ceiling cobwebs with the
broom straws.

When the boys appeared back upstairs, Emma
cornered them again. “Make up the fly bags and put them around the
doors and windows. We do not want a lot of flies in here.”

Noah asked, “Mama Hal, you have enough
pennies to put in the water?”

Hal rifled in her purse and gave the boys
what pennies she had. Emma went to the pantry and found a box of
quart baggies she laid on the kitchen table.

The boys put six pennies in each bag and
filled them half full of water. Once they had the amount they
needed, they tacked the fly bags on the outside of the house.

Finally one morning after much thought, Hal
announced as she wiped dishes, “Aunt Tootie is going to sleep in
the clinic bed.”

“Are you sure?” Emma asked. “The clinic is so
far away from the rest of the family at night.”

“There's nothing wrong with that. For
goodness sakes! It's not like I'm sending her to the barn to sleep.
The clinic is attached to the house after all,” Hal declared out of
sorts.

“I know, but what if you need that bed for a
birthing?” Emma considered.

“We will deal with that when and if it
happens. Maybe we'll be lucky and not have a birth while our
company is here. I can't think of anyone that's due this soon.”

“Just the same we should treat your aunt like
company. Besides, she is a lot older than me. She can have my bed.
I can sleep in the clinic. That way if we have a birthing I will be
the one without a bed which I will not need if I am assisting you,”
Emma declared
logically
.

Hal gave in. “All right, if that's the way
you want it.”

Emma fixed the mop bucket and mopped the
kitchen's black and white checkered linoleum. She tossed the dirty
water out the back door. As she hung the mop pail on a nail and the
rag mop beside it, Noah and Daniel charged into the mud room. Emma
eyed the squirming puppy warily in Daniel's arms as she snapped,
“Watch your step! I just mopped that kitchen floor. It is
slick.”

“We will,” Daniel said.

The boys tiptoed into the kitchen. Hal smiled
at them as she dried her hands on her apron. “How is the puppy
doing?”

“He is growing fast, ain't so?” Noah said to
Daniel.

“Jah,” Daniel agreed. “Want to see him come
to you, Mama Hal.” He put the puppy on the floor. “Now call
him.”

Hal slapped the side of her leg. “Come to me,
Biscuit. Come here.”

The puppy slipped and sprawled out several
times on the damp floor before he finally slid to a stop in front
of Hal. She leaned over and patted his head. “You are so cute.”

The nervous puppy licked her hand repeatedly,
suddenly squatted and relieved himself. The amber puddle spread out
around his hind paws, ran under his front paws and flowed toward
Hal. She stepped back to keep the pool from running under her bare
feet. The puppy yipped as he pattered around her, leaving his wet
tracks on the clean squares.

With her hands on her hips, Emma's disgust
couldn't be missed.

With a glance at his sister, Noah said
quietly, “Grab Biscuit, Daniel.”

As Emma's heavy footsteps came behind them,
Daniel told Hal, “We need to go now.”

Instantly, Emma was beside them, pointing to
the puddle. “That is not a gute thing. I just mopped the floor. I
did not want to do it over, but I will have to, ain't so?” Her
stiff finger wavered toward the pup as she snapped, “Get him out of
this house. He does not belong in here.”

Noah rushed at the puppy. Biscuit dodged
under the table. The puppy crouched down, shivering as he tried to
figure out what went wrong.

Daniel told Noah, “I will crawl under the
table on this side. You watch for him on the other side.”

Daniel went at the pup on all fours. Biscuit
scampered out of hiding and bumped into Emma's bare feet. She
scooped squirming pup up and held him at arms' length. “I have him.
Take him to the barn. He can not stay in the mud room anymore. Take
the box away. It smells as bad as this dog does. They both need to
be gone before company comes.”

Chapter 2

Late Tuesday afternoon, Jim Lindstrom's car
pulled into the driveway and parked. Nora patted down her gray
streaked brown hair before she opened her car door. Tootie
plastered her round, smiley face to the back window, waving
furiously. Jim twisted in the seat and said something to Tootie.
She handed him a straw hat perched on top the back seat. He donned
the hat before he got out of the car.

The Lapp family rushed to greet them. John
hollered, “Wilcom.”

Broad shouldered Jim Lindstrom gave John a
hardy handshake. John said, “Looks like you got a new straw
hat?”

Jim chuckled. “You bet. Didn't figure I
should borrow your anymore.”

He gave Hal a bear hug. “How you doing,
Carrot Top?”

“Oh, Dad,” Hal scoffed, wishing he'd forget
to use that nickname.

By that time, Nora made it around the car and
headed toward them. Hal remembered when her mother was considered a
looker with neatly trimmed short brown hair, warm eyes and curves
in all the right places. Now her neat hair was streaked with gray
and her curves were slightly larger. With the long times between
visits, it was easy for Hal to notice the aging changes.

Behind Nora was her sister,Tootie. A shorter
version of Nora except Tootie kept her short gray hair in a curly
perm. Both women dressed in neatly tailored pantsuits which made
Hal
covetous
since she had to wear long dresses.

The two women hugged everyone as Hal
introduced the family to her aunt before she said, “We should go in
and sit down for awhile before we unload the trunk. I'll bet all of
you are tired after such a long trip.”

“Been sitting all day,” Tootie stated,
rubbing her bottom. “Your father doesn't believe in stopping except
in an emergency. I darn near was the emergency a time or two before
he pulled into a gas station so I could use the restroom.”

“Now, Tootie, it wasn't as bad as all that,”
Nora defended her husband.

John said, “Hal take the women inside while I
help Jim unload the car.”

Daniel tugged on Jim's shirt sleeve. “Dawdi
Jim, we have a new puppy.”

“That right?” Jim asked with interest.

“Would you like to see him?” Noah said, “He
is in the barn.”

“Sure, let's take a look. John, I'll be right
back to unload.” Jim turned to leave with them.

“Jim, you best get into your farmer shoes
before you go to the barn. Those are your Sunday shoes you're
wearing,” scolded Nora.

Jim winked at the boys. “I'll be careful.
We'll be right back. Won't we, boys?”

“Sure, Mammi Nora,” Daniel said. “This will
not take long.”

“They have nasty chickens running wild,”
Tootie hissed at Nora's shoulder. “You know how chickens go
everywhere.” She tisked as she stared at the flock of hens,
scratching in the barnyard. “I've never seen anything else like
chickens that does so much strutting over so little to be proud
of.”

“I'll watch where I step and even rub my shoe
soles in the grass on the way back,” Jim promised. “Come on, boys.
We can't stay gone long. I have carry in the suitcases.”

“We can help, Dawdi,” Noah offered as he
opened the barn's half door.

The puppy scampered to the side of his pen
when he heard their voices. He yipped an excited greeting, jumped
up and planted his front paws on the side of the pen then bounced
off. He twisted in a circle, chased his tail a moment and jumped up
on the pen again to be patted.

“He's sure a cute fellow,” Jim said. “What
breed is he?”

Daniel patted the pup's head. “Black and Tan
coon hound.”

“You taking him coon hunting when he gets a
little older?” Jim asked.

“Jah,” Noah answered.

“You will have to train him. You know
how?”

Daniel shook his head a slow yes. “We know
how. What we do not know is if we will be able to do it.”

Noah suggested, “We might take him out when
it is just me and Daniel. We have not decided what to do yet.”

“Why not? He should learn what he is to do
easy enough. Be quick to train him I'd think since coon hunting is
bred into him,” Jim exclaimed.