Doubting Thomas-Nurse Hal Among The Amish

by Risner, Fay

Nora frowned. “Are you sure you're up to riding in a buggy?”

  “Yes, I feel like getting some fresh air. I do feel so much better this morning. Besides, I'm running out of things for Daniel to do for me here. Maybe a ride would make him feel like he's done enough,” Tootie assured her.

  Where are you going?” Nora asked.

  “Just for a ride with Daniel,” Tootie replied mysteriously. “There's something I should have done before now. For a day or two, I thought I might not ever get the chance. Best take care of that errand before it is too late.”

  When Tootie picked up the bouquet of silk white lilies from the clinic room table, Hal and Nora had their answer.

  As Tootie walked to the buggy, she took a deep breath. “Such a lovely morning.”

  “Jah, that is recht. Did you have some place in mind to go?” Daniel asked as he eyed the flowers.

  “I guess I better run an errand I had planned while I'm still able walk. For a while I thought these flowers were going to have to be for me,” Tootie said pragmatically. “The cemetery is where we're headed. This bouquet is for Peter Rogies. Think you can help me find his grave?”

  “Jah, I can,” Daniel said solemnly. He put his hand under Tootie's arm and helped her into the buggy.

  As they left the driveway, Tootie said, “I don't remember how to find the cemetery.”

  “Jah, I have been there many times. I know the way.”

  “I thought you might.” Tootie watched the countryside as Daniel let Mike take his time. “The fields and pastures are so pretty this time of year. This is a nice ride. You're doing it just right, Daniel. Slow and easy.”

  “Jah, but Mike is doing the all the work,” Daniel said, grinning at her.

  “You know it's fitting we're taking the flowers to Peter in the courting buggy. He really liked this buggy a lot,” Tootie said, remembering the time Peter took her for a ride down Bender Creek road on a dark night without asking Jim if they could use the buggy.

  “Why are you taking flowers to Peter?”

  “I liked him very much. We were friends, and I miss him especially when I'm visiting his neighborhood,” Tootie answered. “Is it all right with you that I visit his grave and leave him flowers?”

  Daniel looked thoughtful. “Jah, I think everyone when they pass on should have someone remember them once in awhile and leave flowers. As long as we are going, I wish I had some flowers to take to my mother.”

  Tootie studied the bouquet of white lilies on her lap. “Daniel, how about I share with you? This is a big bouquet. You can break a couple flowers off for your mother. I don't think Peter would mind sharing his flowers for a good cause. Think that would do?”

  Daniel smiled. “Jah, Aendi Tootie. That would do gute.”

  “I know these silk flowers last longer, but I see so many pretty wild flowers along the road sides. They will do if you ever get the notion to go to the cemetery again by yourself.”

  “That is a gute idea, Aendi Tootie. I will remember,” Daniel said solemnly.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, John and Jim went back to the Bontrager farm to talk to the bishop again. John asked, “Have you made a decision on what to do to get the others to help Jake Jostle?”

  Elton said, “We can start on this end of the storm damage and work our way down the road. Maybe when we get to the Jostle place I will be able to change the men's minds.”

  By the time the workers stopped for Sunday worship service, the next farm to work at was Hamish Manwiller. The Jostle farm was a neighboring farm to Manwiller and Keim's.

  The worship service was at the Bontrager farm. The bishop noticed the Jostle family wasn't greeted or spoken to by many of the members. This unfriendliness had gone on long enough. Soon the Jostle family would decide to quit coming to services. Bishop Bontrager had to find a way to change the minds of the men in his congregation.

  The service began with the hymn The Old Rugged Cross. After that hymn finished, Bishop Bontrager asked John Lapp to be the next song leader for Lob Lied. That song was the long one that gave the ministers time to discuss what they wanted to preach about that morning.

  The bishop took Preacher Yoder and Deacon Yutzy upstairs to a bedroom. The bishop said, “I have given today's service much thought. What I want to happen is the three of us unite to awaken an understanding in our congregation so we do not have a repeat of what has happened lately. This shunning of the Jostles had gone on long enough. They need to be made feel they are wilcom in this community. Jake Jostle's farm is on the list to repair soon. His farm was one of the hardest hit. He needs help. We need to help him and his sons rebuild and be glad by the grace of God we are able to do so.”

  Preacher Yoder said, “I agree.”

  Deacon Yutzy nodded.

  So the three clergymen came back downstairs and took their seats. The hymn ended. Deacon Yutzy stood before the congregation and lead off by reading scripture from Colossians. “Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

  The deacon sat down, and Luke Yoder gave a sermon on how grateful they all should be to God that no lives were lost in the storm. It was a blessing that they were a giving community that looked out for each other and were willing to help their neighbors rebuild.”

  Next was Bishop Bontrager's turn. He preached, “The Bible says, A merry heart doeth gute like a medicine. I know how much all of you appreciate humor. After the destructive storm we just suffered, we need reasons to make us laugh.

  I have a parable to tell you. I hope it makes you laugh or at least smile. I am telling you this parable to help you understand what is the recht thing to do when we all feel we have a tough decision to make. It is important to help each other like we have all week with our clean up efforts. We need each other at times like these. When the need arises I do not ever want you to think it is not your concern when something bad happens to the other fellow. We are all going to need help at some point in our lives and will appreciate that help.

  Now let me tell you about a mouse that lived in a farm house. He watched the farmer and his wife through a hole he gnawed in the wall baseboard.

  One day, he saw the farmer and his wife open a package they received in the mailbox.

  “What gute food might this contain that I might sample?” The mouse wondered.

  The mouse stared as the farmer reached into the box and brought what was in it up to look at. The mouse was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

  Retreating to the barn yard as fast as he could, the mouse proclaimed a warning to the red hen as she scratched in the scattered hay for weed seeds, “There is a mousetrap in the house!”

  The chicken clucked and continued to scratch in the dirt. The mouse didn't leave. She could see he was waiting for a reply so she raised her head to speak, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. That mouse trap is not going to hurt me out here in the barn yard. It is your problem to solve. I have food to find. I cannot be bothered by what worries you.”

  The mouse turned and saw the pig root by the fence. He ran to the pig and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house!”

  The pig sympathized, “I am so very sorry to hear that, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray for your safety. You be very careful from now on. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

  The cow was grazing in her grassy pen. The mouse turned to her for help. “There is a mousetrap in the house!”

  The cow said, “How terrible, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but that news means nothing to me. It is your problem.”

  So the mouse scurried back to the house, head down and dejected. He had to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

  That very nig
ht, a sound was heard throughout the house as the mousetrap snapped, catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed from her bed to see what she caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous copperhead that had slipped in under the screen door. His tail was all the trap caught. Before she could back away from him, the snake bit the farmer’s wife on the leg. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. The farmer put her to bed.

  Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. Recht? So the farmer took his hatchet to the barn yard for the soup’s main ingredient. He butchered the nice, red laying hen. Remember, she said the mouse's problem was of no consequence to her.

  The farmer's wife’s sickness continued to worsen as the snake's poison spread through her system. Friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. Remember the pig refused to do no more than pray for the mouse.

  When the farmer’s wife died, many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for a lunch for all of them. Remember the cow told Mr. Mouse that the danger was his problem. Not hers.

  The mouse looked upon all that happened to his barn yard neighbors from his hole in the wall baseboard with great sadness. “If only my neighbors had helped me get rid of the mousetrap the loss of their lives could have been prevented.”

  Bishop Bontrager shook his finger at everyone in the room. “The moral to this story is very clear. The next time you hear someone is facing a problem, and you think it doesn’t concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved together in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another to do the recht things by our neighbors. An example is how we lend a hand to help each other. Such as recht now when the tornado caused so much damage. Each of us is a vital thread in other people's life tapestry.”

  After Bishop Bontrager sat down, Preacher Yoder stood up. He added to the bishop's parable. “Sind unser hend voll bluth? Can you recall any other time your hands were covered with blood, because you would not help another human being in his time of need?”

  Members of the congregation nodded no.

  “Gute, then think now before you refuse that help to another person in this community that needs of our help. Kneel to pray about this and say a word to God for all these families that had damage done to their farms. We are not done yet, lending our aid to others. Some still need our help and prayers through this coming week and maybe the next one after that. We need to do God's biding and help them.”

  After lunch was served, Emma went looking for Adam. She caught up with him just in time. He had hitched Sophie up to the buggy.

  “Adam Keim, you stop recht where you are. I want to talk to you before you leave,” Emma hissed.

  Adam looked puzzled. He pulled his notepad out of his pocket and wrote, “I was just coming to find you. I want to show you something. Want to come for a ride with me?”

  “Nah, you go for a walk with me,” Emma commanded.

  Adam nodded and started down the driveway.

  Emma grabbed his arm. “Not that way. Everyone can see us. We're going behind Jane's chicken house where we can talk in private.”

  Adam smiled, thinking pleasant thoughts about what would happen when he was out of sight with her.

  Once they were behind the chicken house, Emma took a deep breath and turned to face him. “I want to know what is going on with you, and I want to know recht now.”

  Adam seemed surprised by her angry tone as he shrugged.

  “Do not play dumb with me. Did your mother tell you I have been worried about you?”

  Adam nodded yes. He wavered his hand in a question.

  “Want me to give you some reasons why I am worried?”

  Adam nodded yes.

  Emma eyed him critically. “Why is it really that for weeks you have stayed as far away from me as you can? I am thinking it is not because of a lot of work like everyone tells me including you. That never stopped you from calling on me before. Do you want to marry me or not?”

  Adam expression revealed nothing as he nodded yes.

  “You are very sure you are not trying to find a way to back out? Maybe you just do not have the nerve to say so to my face?” Emma accused.

  Adam nodded a slow no. He wrote on his pad, “I have been very busy.”

  Emma lifted her chin and hid her trembling hands in the deep folds of her skirt. “I am glad you have a successful business. Did Priscilla tell you I stopped by the shop?”

  Adam nodded yes, leveling a penetrating gaze on her.

  “Tell me why our apartment has not been worked on over the shop. You cannot possibly get the work done now before the wedding. Where do you expect us to live if you plan to marry me?”

  “I have that solved. Do not worry,” Adam wrote.

  “Worry is all I do lately. You are never around anymore. I cannot talk to you to find out what problem is solved and what isn't. That is enough to make me worry about all sorts of things. Ideas that I do not want in my head are tumbling around in there, and I have not been able to talk to you,” Emma complained.

  Adam's face wore a patience look as he wrote, “I am sorry I worried you.”

  “You should be. Does it not matter to you that I miss you being with me most of all. That I would worry about you when I have not seen you for days? Do you realize that?”

  Adam watched her for a long minute, his expression unreadable. Finally, he nodded yes.

  “Gute! Now are you sure you want to marry me? After all, Priscilla gets to see you more than I have in weeks,” Emma said.

  Adam straightened up away from the building with a scowl as he scribbled quickly, “What does Priscilla have to do with anything?”

  “She is a constant source of temptation. It is very clear that Bobby cannot resist her. Maybe you cannot, either, now that you see her every day,” Emma accused as she stared into his eyes, sparking with anger.

  Adam shook his head slowly as if he didn't believe what he heard come out of Emma's mouth.

  Emma stomped her foot and raised her voice. “I am serious.”

  Adam studied her for a long minute. He could see she meant the accusation. His face flushed fiery red as he wrote, “You wait until now after all these years we have been together to tell me you do not trust me to love only you. You think I am the kind of man that says he will marry you and back out because of another woman without telling you.” He thrust the note at her.

  Emma read it. “I do not want to think those things. No matter what is wrong between us, I want to hear the truth from you.”

  “I did not realize there was anything wrong between us. If you do not think any more of my trust and love than this, you better make up your mind if you want me for a husband. You give more thought to what kind of man you think I really am. If I am as bad as you think, you are the one who should call the wedding off. I am going home. You know where to find me. You make up your mind what you want to do, and come let me know. I WILL NOT COME TO YOU.” Adam slapped the note into her hand. His back was stiff with anger as he stalked off.

  Emma read through her tears the blurred message. She slid down the chicken house wall to the ground and wiped the tears on her face with her sleeve. She hadn't ever seen Adam this angry before. She didn't think she'd ever be able to erase the wounded look on his face from her memory. That was enough to make her realize she might have been wrong about Adam's faithfulness to her

  What had she just done? Bishop Bontrager was right. She was a doubting Thomas. She expected Adam to prove he loved her, and that he was faithful to her. Why hadn't she just believed in him? As hurt as Adam was now, he may never forgive her. She was destine to be a maidel, and it was all her fault.

  Emma dried her eyes on her skirt hem and stood up. She wanted to get past the house and curl up in the enclosed buggy away from everyone. She knew she looked terrible with puf
fy eyes and tear streaked face, and she just couldn't face questions now.

  Later that afternoon, the family gathered at the buggy to leave. They were surprised to see Emma already seated inside.

  Hal said, “We wondered where you were.”

  Emma looked out the back window to avoid Hal's gaze. “I did not feel gute, so I laid down on the seat for awhile.”

  “What seems to be wrong?” Hal asked, feeling her forehead.

  “I just need to rest for awhile,” Emma said wearily.

  When supper was ready, Hal went to Emma's room to check on her. Emma said she didn't feel well enough to come down for supper. Hal offered to bring up a plate of food, but Emma said she wasn't hungry.

  Hal could see Emma didn't have any physical symptoms of an illness. However, something was diffidently wrong with her.

  The next morning, Bishop Bontrager instructed one of crews to go with him to the Jostle farm to work. The men didn't balked at the idea. When they got there, Jake greeted them. They shook hands with him and went to work along side Jake and his boys, rebuilding the blown down structures.

  That evening at supper, John and Jim told the women that the bishop's sermon really helped. Jim talked about how great it was that the Amish men banded together to help the strange family without complaining. When John checked on their progress later in the day, he said the men were talking to Jake like they had always been friendly with him. What they didn't get done by evening, the men told Jake they would be back to finish the next day.

  John said, “The buildings are smaller than the old ones, but they will do for the Jostle family to get them started again.”

  “That is a cute, little chicken house. Now all Mrs. Jostle needs is some more chickens to put in it,” Jim added.

  Emma perked up. “I can give her a crate of mine to get her started.”

  “That would be great,” John told her.

  Tootie said, “How far that little candle throws his beam so shines a good deed in a weary world.”

  Nora's head went back. “Where did that come from?”