Free Courting Buggy: Nurse Hal Among The Amish by Fay Risner

bare
feet to get to the old cake pan she fed them in, dumped the pail
and hurried back to the house.
    She burst through the mudroom door out of breath. Her
face fell in disappointment when she realized Emma was the only one
in the kitchen, waiting for her. She hadn't beaten Tootie
again.
    That night in the bedroom, Hal slipped under the
covers by John. “Wasn't there any way you could have talked my dad
out of buying that buggy? Mom is fuming about it.”
    “ I tried, but he wouldn't listen to
me.”
    Hal continued heatedly, “Well, I guess Mom is going
to have to live with his purchase. Honestly, my family can be so
irritating sometimes. I didn't realize Aunt Tootie was such a
shirker until now. Odd yes, but lazy no.
    Aunt Tootie was the one who picked the dish washing
job for herself. Now would you believe she refuses to stick around
long enough to wash the slop pail. That's part of the dish washing
job! Aunt Tootie knew that from the first night.”
    “ You should not get so worked up. Pray for a
peaceful solution to all these problems,” John said softly, hoping
that wouldn't be the wrong thing to respond with.
    If Hal wanted sympathy from him, she wasn't going to
get it. John rolled over on his side, baffled by all of Hal's
fussing. She shouldn't get so aggravated over something as simple
as who should wash the slop pail. After all, there were four
females in the kitchen during the clean up. Why weren't they taking
turns? It was as simple as that. He intended to go to sleep.
Hopefully after a good night's sleep, Hal would be in a better mood
tomorrow.
     
     
     

Chapter 6
     
     
    Sunday morning, worship meeting day, started at
four-thirty as every other morning did, but the Lapp household
hustled around much faster, getting the chores done, eating
breakfast and cleaning up. Once everyone had on their for gute
clothes, they were ready to leave for church. John pulled the
enclosed buggy up by the house.
    Noah offered to hitch Molly to Jim's buggy. Jim
followed to see if he could help. The boy lifted each of Molly's
feet to inspect them.
    “ What are you doing?” Jim asked.
    “ You need to check your horse before you start
out. A horse can lose a shoe, and you might not know it if you do
not look,” Noah said seriously. “It is one of the things you must
learn, Dawdi Jim, now that you own a horse.”
    “ You're right. Until now, all I had to do was
walk around the car to see if I had a flat tire and kick the tires
occasionally to see if they had enough air in them.”
    “ Jah, the two are much alike, but I would not
try kicking the horse if I were you,” Noah warned.
    “ Oh, no! I wouldn't do that,” Jim
said.
    The women came outside. Jim parked his buggy behind
John's. Nora declared, “Oh, Hallie, I don't think I can stand
another ride in that buggy.”
    “ Mom, you will get used to it if you do it a
few times. I did,” Hal said.
    “ Yes, but you're a lot younger than I am,” Nora
shot back. “Besides, you have to ride in one now that you're Amish.
I don't have to.”
    “ It would make Dad so happy. He thinks this is
going to be the best vacation ever, driving his buggy everywhere.
He'll have so many stories to tell his friends when he gets home.
Don't mess it up for him,” Hal encouraged.
    “ Look on the bright side, Sister. If he follows
right behind John's buggy you won't get lost again anyway,” Tootie
suggested.
    Nora let out an exasperated sigh. “That's true.”
    “ Come on, Nora. We better get a move on,” Jim
called. “We don't want to be late for church. It would make the
Lapp family look bad.”
    “ We wouldn't want to be the cause of that.”
Nora rolled her eyes. With a huffy breath, she went to her side of
the buggy.
    “ Want me to get down and help you get in?” Jim
asked.
    “ I don't want you helping me your way again
ever with people watching. You stay put, and I'll get in by myself
somehow,” Nora hissed.
    She took a tight grip on the seat and hopped. Jim
grabbed her