by Risner, Fay
“I'll help,” Jim said. He came up behind her. “Hike your foot up on the step and get hold of the seat.” Nora did as he told her. “Now give a hop up with the other foot.” As she hopped, Nora felt firm hands on her bottom as she rose fast in the air. She reached out to grip the back of the seat to keep from going off the other side head first, plopped down and scooted to the left side.
“Jim Lindstrom, that was a pretty sight for everyone to see. What must they think of us?” Red faced Nora scolded, afraid to look at her family.
“That I succeeded in getting you in the buggy,” Jim said, grinning at her and winked to the good humored faces watching.
Nora grunted as she folded her arms over her chest, determined not to enjoy the ride.
Jim climbed in and picked up the lines. “Listen, I didn't come up with that idea on my own. I happened to see an old Amish man help his wife in their buggy that same way while we were at the salebarn. She was a lot older than you. I just figured the knowledge might come in handy some time or other.” Everyone waved when Jim called to John, “What did you say the horse's name is?”
“Molly,” John answered.
“We're off.” Jim said, touching the brim of his straw hat. “We'll just take a short ride and be home way before dark.” He flicked the lines. “Get up, Molly.”
The horse took off at a walk. In the waning sunlight, the clip clop of her hooves had a rhythmic sound that pleased Jim even more than other times he'd heard it. Maybe because this was his own buggy he was driving. He glanced sideways at Nora. She didn't look at all pleased.
At first, Nora gripped the seat as if she was going head first out of the buggy any second. After awhile, she relaxed and put her hands in her lap.
“Isn't that a pleasant sight?” Jim pointed to some red cattle that scattered away from the road fence when they drove by. The frisky newborn calves scampered after their mothers, bawling about being left behind.
In another pasture was a herd of red mares with new colts romping beside them. “Down right pleasant ride in this buggy with sights like these to see.”
Stone faced, Nora paid attention, but she didn't reply.
Jim decided to try another tact. “This buggy sure does ride smooth as all get out. I guess you can tell it's almost new so the springs are good.”
Not bothering to respond, Nora focused on her side of the road.
Jim tried again. “Just listen to the hooves of this horse hitting the road. Like music to my ears.”
“That's what the radio in our car is supposed to be for,” Nora said dryly.
“Want to drive for awhile?” He asked, extending the lines in outstretched fingers toward her.
Nora hid her hands under her armpits. “No, I don't want to drive. I wouldn't know how. Where we going anyway?”
“Just around the section ought to do it for the first time,” Jim said. They came to Bender Creek Road turn off just as the sun set. “Think this must be the end of the mile at this intersection.” He turned onto the dirt road. Behind the dense stand of trees, Bender Creek ran close enough they heard the water mummer. The thick tree cover swallowed from view anything else on both sides the road.
As they rode on the twisting road, Nora fretted, “This is all a timber wilderness. How do you know where we are?”
“I don't, but I'll just follow the road. It has got to lead somewhere,” Jim reasoned.
“Oh, sure! Most roads do, but it's going to be dark soon.”
A raccoon bolted out of the underbrush and scurried across the road in front of the horse. Molly nickered and shied sideways.
Jim pulled back on the lines. “Easy, Molly.”
As the horse calmed down, Nora cried, “That thing scared the horse. What was that?”
“Looked like a coon. Probably headed to the creek for a drank. The horse is fine now as you can see,” Jim surmised.
“It's getting too dark to see anything, especially the road much less animals? Does this buggy have headlights?” Nora quizzed as the daylight faded to dusk.
“Of course, it has a headlight. You sound like this buggy is a 1800's model or something,” Jim said defensively.
A quarter moon rose above the tree tops and shifted behind raggedy clouds. As a warm, gentle night wind blew around them, Nora said nervously, “You better turn on the headlight.”
Jim searched in front of his feet and flicked a switch. Nothing happened. “Huh!” He grunted as he felt along the back of the foot board. “I sure thought that was the light switch. It's the only switch on here. Battery must be run down.”
Nora made disapproving tisks. “You should have checked to see if the headlight worked before you bought this contraption.”
“We'll do fine. The horse can see, and she knows where to go. Never seen a horse yet that didn't know the way home night or day,” Jim assured her.
“Oh, that's real encouraging since you're such an expert on horses,” Nora said dryly. “How long has it been since you helped your father with his work horses? Sixty years maybe?”
Jim thought he should change the subject. “The sky sure is dark. Getting overcast. I expect that means rain.”
“I hope not before we get home. This buggy doesn't have a top,” Nora fussed. “It seems to be lacking a lot of accessories. You don't even have an umbrella in here and no flashlight.”
“The buggy has four wheels, a horse to pull it and a snazzy red seat,” Jim said, trying to sound positive.
“You left the horse by John's barn, and the red seat is not a deal sealer for me,” Nora brooded. “This seat is almost too small for two people.”
“This is a courting buggy,” Jim stated with meaning.
“I heard that before. Now tell me why you needed a courting buggy at your age. Looking for a younger woman to ride with you? Maybe one in a long dress and prayer cap?” Nora complained.
“You know better than that. I just thought this was a fun idea. Maybe we could pretend we're courting again,” Jim said, chuckling.
“You are half a century too late for that,” Nora scoffed. From a distance in the timber on Nora's side came a string of yips. She stiffened but relaxed somewhat when the noises seemed to travel away from them. “Jim, what is that?”
“Coyotes.”
Nora gasped. “Mercy! Sounds like a whole bunch of them.”
“They do tend to run in packs,” Jim said dryly.
A little farther on, large tree limbs hung in a canopy over the road, creating a tunnel that was very dark. Right above them came rattling leaves, beating wings and loud hoots, three in a row.
Nora shrieked as they drove out from under the branches.
“Relax before you scare the horse. That was just a hoot owl,” Jim growled.
“I know a hoot owl when I hear one, but I've never had one right on top of me. He sounded like he wanted to make me his next meal,” Nora snipped. “How soon are we getting on the road that goes back to the Lapp farm?”
“Soon.” Jim uttered softly, “I hope.”
“You don't know where we are, do you? I might have known. Fine thing. You get lost in the car and a buggy all in a couple of days. That's a new record for you, Jim Lindstrom,” Nora chided.
Suddenly, the black shape of a stop sign appeared. They had a cross roads in front of them. Jim sounded relieved. “We made it back to the main road. Guess I'll turn this way.”
“You're guessing? You're turned around. Heaven help us. We may be out in this wilderness all night,” Nora grumbled.
“Ah, I think John would come looking for us before morning,” Jim said to reassure her.
“I'm not so sure. He doesn't know you as well as I do,” Nora grouched.
As Jim listened to Molly's hooves on the packed gravel road, Nora heard cre-e-eak, cre-e-eak, cre-e-eak off to the side. “What is that?” Nora asked in a hushed voice as she stared into the darkness.
“Really? You don't know?”
“Sounds like a giant tree frog,” Nora said nervously. “Mercy, I di
dn't know Hal moved to such a wild jungle.”
“All you're hearing is a farmer's windmill. There's just enough breeze to get the blades to turn slowly so they squeak,” Jim told her.
“Oh, well, how was I supposed to know that. I haven't heard a windmill since I was a kid,” Nora excused sheepishly.
“Listen once in awhile to the Lapp windmill. It sounds the same way,” Jim stated.
They traveled by large black shapes, cattle or horses, snuffling as the animals nosed the tender grass they grazed. Jim said hopefully, “That looks like the cattle and horses we rode by earlier.”
“Cattle and horses all look alike in the daylight. For the life of me, I don't know how you can tell it's the same ones when it's pitch black out here.” Ahead of them, Nora saw house lights. “There's a house. I pray it's Hal's house so I can get out of this contraption. Tootie and Hal must be worried sick about us.”
Meanwhile some time ago, John and the boys finished the chores. They waited in the living room. The women had supper ready. The kettles were on the back of the cookstove, staying warm until Jim and Nora came back.
Hal paced from the living room to the kitchen and back. Emma fed Redbird and Beth so they could stick to their schedule. It would soon be their bedtime. Tootie stared out the living room window on watch.
Hal fretted, “John, Dad said they would be back before dark. Something must have happened.”
“I told you Jim gets lost easy,” Tootie declared. “No telling where they ended up, and my poor sister's out there in the dark. They might be all the way back to Wickenburg by now. Poor Nora is going to be beside herself. That brother-in-law of mine is crazy.”
Hal stopped pacing to give her aunt a cautionary look.
“Sorry, Dear. I know he's your father,” Tootie relented.
“You want us to go look for them?” John asked Hal.
“Jah, I do,” Hal said.
“Yes, she does,” Tootie added her opinion.
“Boys, get the lantern and hitch Ben to the open buggy so we can go look.” John and the boys were on the porch when they heard clopping and saw the buggy's dark shape turn in. John said through the door screen, “They are home.”
“Thank goodness!” Hal exclaimed.
Tootie and Hal rushed to join John and the boys to meet the buggy as Jim parked.
John observed, “It was dark out there to be driving without the head light on.”
“It doesn't work. Must be the battery is dead,” Jim said softly to John as he hopped down.
Nora demanded, “Get me out of this buggy, Jim Lindstrom.”
Jim held his arms up to his wife to help her down.
“Have any trouble other than the dead battery?” John asked.
“No, the horse did just fine” Jim said.
“He got us lost,” groused Nora.
“The horse got you lost,” Hal echoed.
“No, your father did,” Nora complained.
“How lost could we have been. We're back to John and Hal's, aren't we?” Jim defended.
Tootie whispered in Hal's ear, “I told you Jim was lost. Never fails.” The next sound was her clucking tongue.
“Dawdi Jim, did you stick to this road or turn off?” Noah asked.
“I turned off and went through a bunch of timber,” Jim said. “It was a winding dirt road, and your grandma got a little nervous.”
“A little! This country is like living in a zoo. I didn't realize so many wild creatures ran around out here at night,” Nora complained as she went to the house with Hal and Tootie. “Hallie, you must be more careful when you're out at night alone.”
“Hallie rides in a enclosed buggy, Sister. That's safer than Jim's open buggy,” Tootie surmised.
“Denki, for the observation, Aunt Tootie,” Hal said.
The men trailed along behind. “Don't know which made Nora more nervous. All the wild animals she heard, or me mentioning my buggy is a courting buggy.”
John chuckled. “Sounds like you might have been in the right place with that line of thinking. If you were on Bender Creek Road, it is the local lover's lane.”
“Didn't know that, but I tried my best anyway. Nora wasn't in the mood,” Jim replied with a grin.
“I heard that, Jim Lindstrom. You aren't funny,” Nora snapped as she stomped up the porch steps.
As he followed Nora into the house, Jim retorted, “Fine! Next time I'll take Tootie for a ride.”
Tootie declared, patting her chest. “Holy Buckets! I don't think so.”
Noah and Daniel giggled.
Nora snapped, “Watch your mouth, Tootie. Children are listening.”
“Sorry about that, Nora, but I'm not going anywhere with that husband of yours. At least, I wouldn't consider it until he knows the roads better and how to get home before dark,” Tootie groused. She turned to Jim. “For sure, I wouldn't let you take me for a ride on lover's lane in the dark or daylight. Forget that kind of nonsense, Jim Lindstrom.”
Chapter 5
That evening, John said the supper prayer out loud. “I come before you in the name of Jesus Christ our king. Bless this family and keep us peaceful and thoughtful of each other. Bless me so that I can do your will in the coming days. Amen.”
As they focused on eating rather than talking, Hal was glad that supper seemed to please everyone. Of course, the silence might have been because supper was later than usual so they were hungry. Hal feared it was more likely due to the fact that Nora was unhappy with Jim. Everyone thought they should keep quiet until she calmed down.
Finally, Daniel broke the ice. “Aendi Tootie, please pass me the butter.”
“Sure, Dear,” Tootie said as she handed the round glass dish full of homemade butter across the table.
Daniel made a face as he took it and set it beside his plate. He grumbled to Noah, “I would rather have had seconds from the green bean bowl. They sure were gute.”
Tootie gave him a vexed stare. “Why on earth didn't you say that in the first place if you wanted green beans?”
“Mama Hal said while you are here I am to watch my manners and say please pass the butter,” Daniel complained.
Jim and John burst out laughing. Emma put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. Hal looked upset at all of them for finding Daniel amusing. Nora and Tootie looked confused.
Jim said to Daniel, “Don't stand on good manners with us. We're family. If you want the green bean bowl, I can help you out there.” He handed the bowl to Noah to pass to Daniel.
When everyone finished eating, Tootie hustled to the stove for the tea kettle, ready to make up her dish water. The other women settled into the routines that were left.
Hal left for the barn with the scrap pail. While she was gone, Tootie finished the last stainless steel kettle and tossed her cloth into the dish pan. “Emma, it's your turn to wash the counters and table off tonight,” she ordered.
Tootie focused on the window while she wiped her hands on her apron. Yanking on the ties, she removed the apron, tossed it over a chair and hurried from the kitchen.
“Looks like I've done all I can,” Nora said and followed her sister.
When Hal came back, Tootie and Nora were gone. Hal put the slop pail in the pan and fished around in the murky water for the dish cloth.
Emma whispered, “I think Aendi Tootie was trying to keep from washing the pail. She washed the dishes as fast as she could to get out of here before you came back from the barn.”
“Did she now? Well, I'll just have to hurry faster to get ahead of her next time,” Hal hissed.
The next afternoon, Noah and Daniel hooked up the manure spreader. Daniel stopped cleaning the sheep pens in the barn long enough to hitch up Ben and drive the enclosed buggy over by the house for the women to take to the Yoder farm.
The boy was on his way back to the barn when the women walked to the buggy. Suddenly, a loud clatter, horse screams behind the barn and stampeding hooves caused everyone to look that direction. The team bolt
ed around the barn with the empty spreader careening from side to side behind them.
Startled by the sight, Daniel froze as the frightened horses and spreader came at him. Hal ran toward Daniel as the boy took his first step backward. She grabbed his arm. “Move,” she screamed. Daniel leaped with her, and they just barely made it out of the horses' path. A fearful dread welled up in Hal at what a close call that had been as she hugged Daniel.
Emma asked frantically, “Where is Noah?”
Daniel gulped. “I do not know. He was with the horses and spreader while I hitched the buggy up.”
Hal, Emma and Daniel took off. Noah came to meet them from behind the barn with a staggering gait. They all turned their attention to the sounds in the pasture lane. The swerving spreader hooked onto the fence. Posts snapped, livestock panels clattered to the ground and strands of wire caught on the spreader and flying harnesses. The horses finally halted in a tangle of wire and fence posts.
Noah said to Daniel, “We have to get the horses unhitched quick before they get hurt.”
Hal grabbed his arm. “Are you hurt, Noah?”
“Nah, I just twisted my ankle some.”
“I want to look at that ankle,” Hal insisted.
“You can look at it later, Mama Hal. We have to get those horses unhitched before they get hurt if we are not too late all ready.” Noah limped after Daniel to free the horses.
The boys unhitched the horses and led them to the barn. When they came back, Hal said, “Noah, sit down on a porch step. I'll get an ace wrap from the clinic to bind that ankle so it's easier to walk on.”
She was back in a few seconds. Noah had his shoe and sock off and his trouser leg rolled up. She felt the swollen ankle. Noah sucked in air when pain seared through his leg from her poking. “I don't think the ankle is broken. You're putting some weight on it.”
“Jah, it is just sprained,” Noah assured her through clenched teeth.
