by Risner, Fay
“Were the boys supposed to do that, Aendi Tootie?” Emma asked.
“No, they were supposed to bid on a box and eat with whom ever the box belonged to,” Tootie said.
“That was cheating then,” Emma stated.
“The girls didn't want to sit with someone they hadn't been dating,” Tootie enlighten her. “Now with the older women, married and old maids, it didn't matter who picked their boxes. They were usually happy with ever which man they got, young or old. The money was going for a good cause, and it was just an evening to socialize for them.”
Nora said, “I remember some amusing and some embarrassing situations. Some girls had younger brothers and sisters that passed out the wrong description about their older sister's box to her boyfriend. That would caused him to bid sky-high on a box that didn't belong to his best girl. Remember the time, Tootie, when Ima Jean Sandersfield's beau, Steven Heckter, got the wrong information.”
“Remember it? We laughed about that for days.” Tootie giggled at the thought. “I'll never forget the look on that boy's face. Steven got stuck with plain jane Hector Cozy. She was delighted since she rarely had a date, and he was real cute in those days.”
“I remember that happening to you once, too,” Nora said with a mischievous smile.
Tootie frowned. “You can forget that story right now.”
“Nah, she can't,” Hal said. “Mom, what happened?”
“Tootie thought she was going to be eating supper with the best looking boy in the room, Art Klinefeld. I was there with Jim. For a joke, Jim told Art which box he saw Tootie carry in. Turned out to be the old maid school teacher's box.
When Tootie's box come up for auction, Oscar Donner bid until he got it. The old man had lots of money and liked to help out the school fund. He didn't care whose box he bid on. Tootie wasn't a bit happy to have to eat supper with that old man. Ruined her whole evening.”
“Well, who wouldn't be upset at my age. He was about eighty years old. That old potbellied grandpa man wasn't nearly as much fun as Art, and here I was stuck with him until he finished eating,” Tootie groused. “I thought he was never going to get to the bottom of the box so I could get away from him. He acted like he was eating slow just to aggravate me. All I could think about was hunting up my beau, before some other girl stole him.”
“You worried for nothing. The spinster school teacher wasn't any competition for you,” Nora said.
Tootie sniffed. “She sure wasn't. That was the only good thing about that evening. The other girls had a hay day out of me being stuck with that old man. I didn't speak to Jim for months, because he pulled that prank on me and ruined my evening.”
Nora said, “Sometimes, we young folks had a hilarious time watching as a couple, very much in love, would be separated, because of the boy bidding on the wrong box. Another boy spent the high point of his evening with that boy's girlfriend. Oh my, the looks that crossed from one young person to another were hot as the fire in the stove.”
Tootie giggled. “Boys were so busy watching to see how close their girl sit to the other boy they couldn't even enjoy their supper. Some girls completely ignored the boy they were with while they worried their boyfriend bid on another pretty girl's box lunch on purpose.”
“Business was lucrative for the smaller boys and girls with sisters and brothers older than them,” Nora said. “They were able to pick up a little cash by telling their older sister's boyfriend exactly how her box was decorated. He was glad to pay to be able to bid and buy her lunch.
Same with the ones who misinformed the boys about the boxes. The tricksters took their money and hid out for a few days until everyone cooled off. That included your father, Hallie.”
“Remember how husbands attempted to buy their wives' lunches?” Tootie grinned as she went on, “Remember when some bullheaded husband bid higher and higher, finally to be awarded a box that wasn't his wife's but one belonging to a woman who wasn't even a friend of his wife.
Worse of all was when it was an old gossip or trouble maker, like Stella Strutt, that the wife couldn't stand. The hour the husband spent with that woman provided great amusement and glee to the rest that knew about the ill feelings between the two women. The poor husband knew he was going to be in the dog house when he got home even if he couldn't help what happened.”
“It was a great time to visit, swap news, gossip and gather information since most of us didn't socialize much except to go to church and school,” Nora said. “Especially for our folks.”
“Our visiting at the fund raiser gathering is the same, but this fund raiser will be different from yours. We all bring food and eat together in fellowship. Free will donations will be placed in a box on the end of the food table,” Emma explained.
Chapter 16
That evening, almost all of the Plain people in the community filed into the school. The women placed their casseroles, salads, meats, bread and other dishes along side desserts on the cloth covered planks at the front of the room. Styrofoam plates, glasses and cups were stacked beside plastic silverware. The large thermos jugs of tea, juice and coffee were lined up after the box at the end of the table for the free will donations.
Bishop Bontrager said a prayer of thanks for the delicious food and the cooks that prepared it. He praised God for sending such a good turn out to help fund the school house needs for their children.
The line formed in the manner as Sunday meeting dinners. The men first, the teenage boys, the women with and without small children and the girls.
Peter Rogies sat in the back of the room with the old men, watching and listening to the hubbub around him. His confused face showed he couldn't make heads or tails out of all the talking. So many different voices mingled together that the words blended into sentences that didn't make sense.
A man who seemed to know him approached and shook his hand. “That food sure looks gute. Better get in line with me, Peter.”
Peter studied the man's face. “Do you know me?”
The man took it as a joke. He laughed. “Now how many years has it been that we have lived on neighboring farms, Peter Rogies?”
“Many years,” Peter managed. He hoped he said the right thing. He must have, because the man left him to get in line. All the other men on his bench left him by himself.
Peter studied the women, looking for a familiar face. Some were serving men from behind the table, and others were bustling around, tending to their young children and talking to other women. He searched for Sara among them. He didn't see her. Perhaps, she stepped outside to go to the outhouse or for a breath of fresh air. He should go find her and tell her it was time to eat.
Peter was uncertain which way to go. He looked up and down the aisle and noticed the open door. The cool night air drifted his way. He peered out the door into the darkness. Sara was out there somewhere. He'd find her and tell her -- tell her … . His mind went blank. He wasn't sure what he meant to say to his wife, but he had to find her. He slipped away without notice and wandered around the school yard.
“Sara, Sara,” he called toward the shade trees and the outhouse. He heard horses stomping and snorting, disturbed by his voice. A whinny answered him once. Perhaps that was a horse named Sara.
Tootie came outside. As bad as she hated to be in the dark, she had to go to the bathroom. She heard Peter call his wife's name. She followed his voice and found him in the grove of trees behind the horse barn. “What are you doing out here?”
He asked, “Dolly, that you?”
“Yes, you should be inside eating your supper,” Tootie scolded gently.
“Why are you out here?” Peter asked.
“I have to go to the outhouse,” Tootie said bluntly.
“Will you do me a favor and look inside to see if Sara is in there? She is out here wondering around,” Peter said.
“All right, I'll look.” Tootie opened the door and felt her way inside the black space, shut the door and managed to find the bench hole. When she came bac
k out, Peter was pacing in front of the door. “Sara, isn't in there.”
“Sara,” Peter called. When he stood still and listened, he didn't hear a reply. All that reached his ears were the tree frogs harmonious song, chatter from the school and the gentle breeze moaning through the tree limbs. He grew anxious. “Sara is lost. Dolly, I have to find her quickly. Sara must be so scared. She doesn't like the dark.”
In the distance, screaming yips stopped Tootie. She grabbed Peter's arm. “What was that?”
Peter listened. “Coyotes on the run.”
“Really? Let me tell you, Sara isn't the only one scared of the dark. So am I with wild animals like that loose around here,” complained Tootie.
As if he didn't care, Peter's stooped shouldered form shuffled away from the building until he was out of range of the gas lights yellow glow flowing from the door and windows.
“Wait for me.” Tootie darted a look into the darkness and hustled after him.
By that time, Peter was at the fence line. He bumped into the barbed wire. His jacket hooked on a barb. Peter backed up and heard the rip made in his snagged jacket. He didn't have time to pay that any mind. Not with Sara missing. He stared at the timber.
“Peter, why don't we go back and get some of the men to help us look for Sara. We would find her faster with help.” Tootie thought, That sounds like good reasoning to get Peter back into the school. Let his family talk him out of looking for his wife.
“Sara is my only worry right now. She wasn't in the school yard so she must be out in those trees.” Peter nodded across the fence. He was sure of it. He could feel it. No place else she could be. He pushed the top barbed wire down and stuck one leg over. He balanced for a second on that foot then raised the other leg up and brought it over the wire. When he planted his foot, he stepped on a limb which off balanced him. Peter staggered backward, but he regained his footing.
“You shouldn't hunt for her by yourself,” Tootie said. “It's too dark out here to see what you're doing.”
“You want to go with me. I'd like you to go with me, Dolly,” Peter coaxed.
Tootie debated. She would be crazy to go out in that dark wilderness with this man and no telling how many spiders and for sure coyotes. She should run back and get the men. They could make Peter go back to the school house. Only he'd be mad at her, and there was no way he'd stay put long enough for her to return with help. No way he'd believe Sara was dead if she tried to tell him. Oh dear, more play acting. I will just have to go with him and see if I can't get him to turn around soon. “You have to help me over the fence. I'm not as agile as I once was.”
Peter lifted the top wire and lowered the bottom wire so the space for Tootie to squeeze through was larger. Once, she was through Peter took her hand. The leaves crunched under their feet. The deafening snap of a dry stick hidden under the leaves echoed through the timber. The sounds their footsteps made were loud in the quiet darkness as they wondered around the trees.
Peter stopped. He listened intently. “Hear all that noise. Is there someone behind us?”
“I think it was our walking you heard,” Tootie said, wishing he was right.
Peter look behind them. “Who is there?” He sighed with a great measure of relief when he recognized his brother coming to them. “Charlie, what are you doing out here?”
“I came to help you find Sara,” Charlie replied.
“Come along. I can use your company.”
“Who is Charlie?” Tootie asked, looking at the empty space beside Peter.
“Forgive my manners. Charlie, my brother, this is my special friend, Dolly. I'm sure you remember when Dolly and I dated,” Peter introduced. “Charlie, we may have a ways to walk. Sara is in this timber somewhere, and she is lost.” Peter took off fast, making it hard for Tootie to keep up. He acted as though he was listening to a voice beside him. Peter replied to the empty space, “I know Sara is not going to be happy to see Dolly with me. It can not be helped. We are worried about her.” Peter grabbed his upper arm with the other hand and rubbed it. “My arm where I hurt it pains me. I can tell there is going to be a change in the weather.”
“Maybe a rain coming. No moon or stars this dark evening. All the more reason to find Sara,” Charlie said.
“I know it is not gute for Sara to be in the timber during a storm,” Peter declared.
“How did you hurt your arm?” Charlie asked.
“Charlie, your memory is growing old like we are if you have to ask. You should know since you were there. Remember that unbroken horse Daed thought he bought so cheap. Me and you said we were going to break that horse. Daed didn't want us to. He said it wasn't safe. We would get hurt.
We waited until he wasn't home to give it a try. That old horse bucked me off on my arm and broke it. Daed was really mad when he saw I was hurt. Remember he said to me foolishness like that after I disobeyed him should be driven away with the rod. I was not sure which hurt worse when he got done with me, my bottom or my broken arm. I must have been about fifteen at the time, wasn't I?”
Peter didn't get a response from his brother. “Charlie?” He stopped to search around him. Charlie was gone. Peter shrugged. “He sure did not stay long, Dolly.” He trudged on. “Is not the first time Charlie has come to see me and left as suddenly as he came. Sara does that a lot lately, too.” So many others in my family come to visit and leave just as sudden. I should be used to it by now. They always come back. “Sara, Sara, I'm coming,” Peter called as he struggled forward with faltering steps. “Where are you?”
“We'll find her,” Tootie assured him.
“When we do, Charlie was right. She is not going to be happy to see you with me after all these years,” Peter warned. He halted quickly. “Dolly, I need you to promise me something.”
Whatever Peter wanted surely couldn't be any worse than to take her on another buggy ride. She'd gladly agree to go for that ride with him if she could get him out of this timber.
“I'll try,” she assented.
“You will probably live longer than me given you are some younger. I want you to tell our son the truth about who his mother is,” Peter said.
Tootie felt as if Peter had punched her in the gut. “What truth?”
“I want you to do for me what I did not have the nerve to do myself. When I am gone I want you to tell Jonah you are his real mother so he knows Sara wasn't,” Peter said.
Holy Buckets! Tootie put her hand over her mouth. She was so surprised she wasn't sure if she spoke the words out loud or thought them. How could he ask her to do such a thing?
In the school, Anna Rogies filled a Styrofoam plate with the food she was sure her father-in-law liked to eat. She took it to the back of the room. Peter wasn't there. Only an empty space on the bench where she had last seen him.
“Did you see where Peter Rogies went?” She asked Elmer Swartzendruber. The man was eating his supper from the plate in his lap.
“He went outside about the time I got in line to fill my plate. He did not say where he was going,” Elmer replied.
“How long ago was that?” Anna asked, trying not to sound concerned. Their family had tried to hide the peculiar way Peter acted for as long as they could, but word had a way of spreading. She was pretty sure everyone knew by now that Peter was sick.
Elmer thought a moment. “Long enough that he should have been back by now if he was just going to the outhouse.”
Anna set Peter's plate on the bench and rushed to Cooner Jonah. She bent down by his ear. “Your father has left the school some time ago and hasn't come back.”
“I will go find him. He probably went to the outhouse and can not figure out how to get back in here,” Cooner Jonah said. “Do not worry. Not yet.”
In a few minutes, Cooner Jonah was back. He shook his head no at Anna and searched over the crowd until he saw John Lapp. “John, my father is missing. I can't find him outside. I looked in the outhouse and called around the school, but he did not answer.”
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��We can get the men together and all search. That will be faster,” John said. He walked to the front of the room. “Can I have your attention, everyone?”
The room quieted down as the Plain people looked curiously at John in front of the food table.
“Peter Rogies is missing. Cooner Jonah thinks he has wondered off and got turned around. We need the help of all the men to look for him,” John announced.
“Jah, we can do that,” Eldon Bontrager said.
“Go together in groups so you do not get lost in the dark. We need to check the timber and the road in both directions,” Cooner Jonah said. “I have not an idea which way my father would go.”
Hal stood up. “Most of you know that Peter has not been well for a while. Please approach him carefully if you find him. He may not remember you. If he doesn't understand that you are trying to help him, he might become angry or fearful. Talk to him softly and speak slowly when you find him so he will come back with you willingly.”
Nora looked around her. “Hallie, when is the last time you saw Tootie. She isn't here, either.”
“Oh no! John while you're looking for Peter watch for Aunt Tootie, too,” Hal said.
“You are not serious?” John asked disbelievingly.
Hal nodded.
Jim snorted. “Figures! All of a sudden, where one of them two is the other is sure to be.”
The hunt lasted through the night. The women and children waited at the school, singing hymns with the hope that Peter and Tootie might hear their voices and come back on their own.
The hymns and prayers gave the Plain women and children in the school house strength to endure the long night. While they were within hearing, the men listened to the lilting voices praising God. It gave them energy to go on when they grew weary.
Some of the men had lanterns in their buggies, and others had flashlights. For awhile, Hal stood in the doorway to watch. All around the school, the wobbling glow of bright lights, like giant lightning bugs, dimmed and faded from sight. Men's voices called for Peter. Some of the voices were close. Distant voices faintly echoed with calls of their own.
