The Amish Midwife (The Amish Bachelors 2; Lancaster Courtships 3)

by Patricia Davids

  Anne slept poorly that night. She went over every moment she had spent in Joseph’s company, looking for things that others might see as improper and wondering why she resented Naomi’s advice. Naomi had her best interest at heart. Anne knew that.

  When morning finally came, the light revealed heavy frost on the windowpanes. Was Joseph still expecting her to help milk his goats? She had no way of knowing. She would have to go ask. A sense of dread hung over her as she bundled up to go outside. Ending their friendship was the last thing she wanted to do.

  She was almost to the gate between their properties when she saw him coming her way. He had Leah bundled in the baby quilt she had made. A pang of grief took her aback, but she suppressed it. The quilt had been made with love to keep a child warm. She was glad that child was Leah.

  Joseph stopped on his side of the gate and spoke first. “I was bringing her to you.”

  The cautious expression in his eyes and his flat tone brought Anne’s spirits to a new low. It seemed that the visit by the bishop and Naomi had indeed put an end to their budding friendship. She should take Leah and return to the house. That would be the circumspect thing to do.

  Except Anne wasn’t feeling particularly circumspect today. Joseph needed a friend. Asking her to turn her back on him was wrong. Would she rather have Joseph’s friendship or Naomi’s approval? “I thought you were going to teach me how to milk goats this morning.”

  “I don’t think it would be a good idea.”

  “That’s funny. I didn’t think it was a good idea yesterday, but today I really want to learn.”

  He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be proper. I don’t wish to damage your reputation. The bishop is unhappy with us. Someone mistook our stumble into each other as a kiss. I set him straight.”

  That shocked her. “A kiss in public? You and I? That’s ridiculous! Why would anyone believe such a tale?”

  “I’m sure they don’t any longer. I explained what happened.”

  “I should hope so.”

  “Now you see why helping me milk isn’t a good idea.”

  “Joseph, I’m sure you received the same lecture that I did, or a very similar version. Goat milking wasn’t mentioned to me. Was it mentioned to you?”

  “You’re splitting hairs, Anne.”

  “Am I? What if something were to happen to you? What if you fell and broke your leg? Who would take care of your goats? It’s perfectly reasonable that I learn how.” She softened her tone. “Besides, I really want to learn.”

  He stared at her for a long minute. Finally, he rubbed his chin with one hand. “It does make sense that someone should know what to do if I’m laid up.”

  “Exactly.”

  “It might as well be you since you live closest.”

  Anne threw her hands wide. “Ja, I’m the logical choice.”

  “Except that you don’t like my goats.” A twinkle appeared in his eyes as a smile twitched at the corner of his lip.

  Her heart grew light. This was the right thing to do. “All Gottes creatures deserve my respect and my care. Even goats. Even Chester.”

  She was rewarded with a bark of laughter from Joseph. “That’s putting it on a little thick, Anne.”

  “I didn’t sound sincere?”

  “Nay, you didn’t. Not at all.” He handed her the baby and opened the gate so that she could come through.

  “I’ll work on it.” She cast him a sassy look. Was he blushing?

  They fell into step together as they walked toward his barn. He glanced her way. “You surprise me.”

  “Sometimes I surprise myself.” Like now. Who would believe she was willingly going to milk a goat?

  “I kind of like that about you.”

  Warmth flooded her and drove the cold from her cheeks. She was finding a lot of things she liked about Joseph, too, but she wasn’t brave enough to tell him that. Not yet. He opened the gate to his pasture and Anne followed him in. He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled one piercing note. Seconds later dozens of animals came galloping toward them from all corners of the field.

  They were about to be mobbed. Anne clutched Leah tightly to her chest and closed her eyes.

  Chapter Twelve

  When the expected impact didn’t happen, Anne opened her eyes. She was surrounded by goats. Some were spotted, a few were snowy white, but the majority of them were brown with black markings. They milled around Joseph bleating softly. Some of them butted against his leg gently. Anne had seen them all in his pastures and a few of them in her garden, but Chester was the only one she’d been this close to.

  One of the smaller white ones stood on her hind legs to investigate Anne. Another one tried to nibble on Leah’s blanket. Anne held the baby higher. “Do they eat cloth?”

  “Goats are browsers. They will sample about anything. They don’t eat tin cans, though. That is a myth, but they do enjoy eating the paper labels.”

  Anne noticed two of them had no ears. “What happened to these poor things? Did their ears freeze off? I’ve heard it can happen to animals in bad winters.”

  “Nothing happened to them. They are Lamanchas. They’re an earless breed.”

  “How strange. Can they hear?”

  “Ja. They have an ear canal same as any other. Ruby girl, koom.” He held out his hand and one of the white earless goats trotted over to nibble at his fingers.

  “How many do you have?” Anne couldn’t begin to count them, for they were all milling around.

  “Over one hundred. I milk eighty of them. The rest are my breeding rams and a few of my kid crop from last spring that I haven’t sold yet. I’m a seasonal pasture-based dairy. That means my does are bred in the fall and have their kids in the spring. Goats produce milk for about nine months. My milking season begins in March and ends in December each year. It gives my girls a two-month break to rest up before the next round of kids arrive. As soon as they freshen, I start milking again.”

  He scratched the head of the tall brown goat with a black line down her back. “This is Matilda. She is the matriarch of the group. They all follow her.”

  “Do they all have names?” A second goat tried to sample Leah’s quilt. Anne pushed her away.

  “Ja, I know them all by name. This is Jenny. She is my best producer. She gives me a full gallon morning and night. Matilda is her mother. The small buckskin-colored one chewing on your shoelace is her daughter Carmen. This is Zelda. This is Betsy. This is Cupcake. Over here is Yolanda.” All of the females had heavy udders.

  Anne cocked her eyebrow. “I’m not required to learn their names, am I?”

  Joseph shrugged. “I reckon not, but they respond better when you call them by name.”

  Anne realized the musky odor of the does wasn’t as strong as Chester’s stink. “Why do the male goats smell so bad?”

  “You don’t want to know. They only smell bad to us. The female goats find the odor quite attractive.”

  “Then Chester must be a very popular fellow.”

  “He is,” he said with a chuckle.

  A pale brown doe with a white blaze on her face and droopy ears sniffed at Anne’s hand. She was cute as a button. Anne smiled and tentatively petted her head. “Who is this?”

  Joseph shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking oddly ill at ease. “I thought you didn’t want to learn their names.”

  Anne scratched the pretty doe behind the ear and the animal leaned into her hand, her eyes closed in bliss. “Not all of them. Just this one.”

  “It’s Anne,” he muttered so softly she almost didn’t hear.

  Anne’s mouth dropped open. “Joseph Lapp, did you name a goat after me?”

  “Not exactly. I try to go through the alphabet when I’m giving the new kids names and it was time for an A name.
”

  “Annabel. Abigail. Arlene. There are lots of names that begin with A.”

  “I already have an Annabel and an Abigail. I picked Anne. It was no reflection on you.”

  She wasn’t so sure, but she let the subject drop. “Show me how to milk.”

  “It’s easy.” He led the way inside his metal barn and flipped a switch.

  The hum of a generator started up and in a few seconds, the lights came on. The building was large and airy with a high ceiling and white painted walls. Anne was amazed at how clean everything was. She didn’t think of goats as clean animals.

  “I noticed you use electricity.”

  “I have permission from the bishop to use it in my barn. I don’t have it anywhere else on the farm. I use a propane-powered generator. It’s cleaner than a diesel-fuel-powered one and less noisy. My goal is to produce the best goat’s milk I can. An important part of that is keeping the milk clean and chilling it as soon as possible.”

  His milking parlor was a raised platform with twelve stanchions. The panels were painted royal blue and each place held a small blue tub in front of it. He climbed onto the platform and began filling the tubs from a small wheelbarrow. “I feed grain at milking time. The gals don’t mind being milked, because they get fed.”

  When he had filled each tub, he opened the door at one end of the parlor. “Koom, girls. Up you go.”

  The goats filed in quickly. They walked up one ramp to come into the parlor. Another ramp led down and out of the barn. The first doe walked all the way to the end of the line before stopping and putting her head in the stanchion. Each one did the same until all the places were full. As each goat began eating, Joseph closed the latches that would keep their heads locked in place.

  He hopped off the platform and stood beside Anne. “It’s important to clean their udders thoroughly with an iodine solution and dry them well before putting on the suction tubes. The milk goes directly from the goat into the milker, then into a pipeline, through a filter and finally to the milk tank in the next room, where it is chilled in a holding tank. A truck comes three times a week to pick up the milk.”

  “How long does it take?”

  “To milk all of them? It takes me about two hours.”

  “How do you clean all this tubing?”

  He began washing the udders of each doe and attaching the milkers. “I’ll show you when I’m done. The pipeline system gets cleaned after each milking, morning and night. Warm water flushes the leftover milk out of the lines. That is followed by a hot-water detergent rinse and then a mild bleach rinse. Like in the house, I have a propane hot-water heater here. The milk lines are sanitized just prior to each milking.”

  This was a much more complex operation than she had imagined. “Joseph, none of this looks easy except opening the door and letting them in.”

  “It looks more complicated than it is. You’ll get the hang of it in no time.”

  She shifted the baby to her other hip. “I agreed to help do this for one day.”

  He leaned on the parlor ramp. “I remember. When do you want to start?”

  “Haven’t we started already?”

  “I’m showing you how it’s done. You haven’t helped me do anything yet. Are you backing out of our deal? I did manage to sell almost all your pumpkins.” He moved toward her and took Leah from her.

  “You did and I’m not backing out. I’m grateful for your help. I will attempt milking one evening, with your supervision, of course.”

  “Of course. I don’t trust my gals to just anyone. Isn’t that right, Leah?” He bounced the baby and smiled at her. She grinned back at him.

  Anne cocked her head to the side as she watched him interact with Leah. He was a much different man from the sour, reclusive neighbor she had lived next to for so many years. It did her heart good to see such a positive change in him.

  * * *

  Joseph caught Anne looking at him with a soft smile on her lips and tenderness in her eyes. His heart started beating faster. His logical mind quickly quelled the sensation. Her tender smile was aimed at the baby and not at him. He shouldn’t read more into her friendliness than was there. He knew he had to keep their relationship casual or he’d risk running into problems with the church community. He wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize Anne’s reputation.

  “I’ve shown you how the milking is done. I reckon that’s good enough. Why don’t you take Leah back to your house? I think she’s ready for a nap.” He didn’t mean to sound brusque, but his words came out that way. He handed her the baby.

  Anne’s smile faded. “I will see you later.”

  He didn’t want her to go, but he had no reason to stop her. He waited until she reached the door. “Anne?”

  She turned back to face him. “Yes?”

  He wanted to say, Don’t go. Instead, he asked, “What do you think of my goats now?”

  Her smile reappeared. “I still like them much better when they are on your side of the fence.”

  “Now that the growing season is over, would you consider letting me graze them in your fields? For a price.”

  “How much of a grazing fee are you offering?”

  He gave her a price that was less than what it would cost him to buy the same amount of feed.

  “I’ll think it over.”

  “What’s to think about? You get your fields cleared and I get low-cost feed for my gals that’s right next door.”

  “If you want to graze it, there may be others in the area who would like to graze it, too. Maybe someone else will pay me more. As I said, I’ll think it over. Cows and sheep will eat the broken and blemished pumpkins that are still out there. They will eat the leaves and vines, too.”

  If she was looking to foster the appearance of a business relationship with him for propriety’s sake, he understood. “Ask around. I doubt you will get a better price.”

  “I will ask around. If I decide not to let your goats graze it, will you complain about me?”

  “Loudly, and to everyone who will listen.”

  “That settles it,” she said primly and left without giving her answer.

  He chuckled as he returned to work. Anne certainly wasn’t a boring woman. Her self-sufficient streak might have been what kept her single all these years. Each day he seemed to discover something new and intriguing about his bossy neighbor.

  And each day he liked her more.

  He pushed the thought aside. For Leah’s sake, he valued Anne’s friendship, but he knew there would never be anything more between them. He was a bachelor set in his ways. She was bent on remaining single. It wouldn’t work between them.

  So why was he even thinking about it?

  He gave himself a sharp mental shake and went to feed Chester. To his chagrin, he discovered the buck was missing. Again. Somehow he had escaped from the stall.

  A quick check of the outbuildings showed the goat wasn’t on the farm. Joseph headed to Anne’s, praying the goat wasn’t causing any new damage. His prayer went unheeded. He found Chester in the corral chasing Anne’s mare away from her hay. The old goat was leaping and kicking happily in the crisp morning air, making the frightened horse dash from one end of the enclosure to the other.

  “Chester, koom! Before Anne sees your mischief and I end up in her bad graces again.” He managed to shepherd the goat home, found where he had worked a board loose to get out and fixed it.

  As he hammered the last nail in place, he glared at Chester. “At least Anne wasn’t the one to find you. You have to stop giving her a bad impression of goats. Behave. We want her to like us.”

  Joseph straightened as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He did want Anne to like him because he cared about her. A lot.

  It was a scary thought.

  * * *

  On
Friday morning Anne walked out to hitch up her horse a little after eight o’clock. When the mare came limping toward her, Anne frowned in concern.

  “You poor thing. What’s wrong?”

  Anne slipped into the corral to examine Daisy’s right front leg. Her knee was swollen and hot. Anne patted the mare’s neck. “You aren’t going to carry me to the Yoder farm this morning. You are going to have to rest for a few days. I’ll fix up a poultice for you as soon as I get back.”

  Leaving the corral, Anne headed to Joseph’s house. She found him mending a pair of socks at the kitchen table. “Good morning, Joseph.”

  “Wee gayt’s, Anne. What can I do for you?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I wonder if I might borrow your buggy horse this morning. My mare has come up lame.”

  He laid his mending aside. “Do you want me to look at her for you? Maybe it’s just a loose shoe.”

  “It’s her right knee. She has had some trouble with it in the past. She must have twisted it while she was out in the pasture because I haven’t used her since last Sunday. I won’t be gone long. Rhonda Yoder is expecting me at nine o’clock. Prenatal visits normally take about thirty minutes.”

  “You can’t borrow my horse.”

  Stunned, she drew back. “Oh.”

  “I’ll drive you.” He got his coat and hat.

  “That’s not necessary.”

  “Duncan is temperamental. I wouldn’t want him to run away with you. If you will get Leah ready, I will go hitch him up.”

  “All right.”

  Within ten minutes Anne had the heavily bundled baby in her Moses basket and was standing outside waiting for Joseph. She handed him the baby and then climbed in. Once she was settled, she took Leah and placed the basket next to them on the seat.

  Joseph flicked the reins and set the horse in motion. “You will have to tell me how to get there. I haven’t been to their place since they moved.”

  “They live on the west side of Honeysuckle now.”

  “Okay.” He turned the horse in that direction when he reached the end of the lane.