Free Amish Country Arson by Fay Risner

as
quick as they did,” Jim said.
    “ Jah, gute that the animals made so
much noise they woke Rudy Briskey up. His house could have burnt
with him and Martha in it if he had slept too long,” Amos
related.
    “ Praise the Lord for Rudy and Martha's
safety,” John said.
    Jim and Amos agreed at the same time.
“Amen.”
    “ As it was, smoke damage was bad inside
the house,” Amos told them. “It will make work for his wife airing
out everything and washing curtains and clothes.”
    Conversations ended as the auctioneer tested
his microphone so the sheep and goat sale could begin.
    The small animal sale room was behind a door
back of the main sale room. The room was bustling with as many
people as the other room, but not farmers interested in livestock
replacement or selling stock. Amish and English people crowded the
room, looking for a bargain. Mostly women and children with more
elderly men.
    Prospective buyers walked around the two
lines of tables, checking out what was for sale. On one table were
stacks of egg cartons full of red eggs. Next baked goods such as
loaves of bread, dinner rolls, bumble berry pies, angel food cakes
and oatmeal applesauce cookies. Right next to the bake goods were
small boxes of late hatched chickens and ducks.
    The other table held starter plants and
flower bulbs plus odd and ends usually found at yard sales.
    Around the sides of the sale arena, a row of
collapsible wire pens held puppies, kittens, fresh born calves from
dairy farms and fall born lambs and kid goats.
    At the end of the pens, plastic milk crates
with wire covers and dog carriers contained rabbits, chickens,
ducks, geese and turkeys.
    The calliope of noises filled the room from
all the unhappy, imprisoned animals and fowl which mixed with human
chatter and laughter. Emma heard roosters crow and directed Hal to
the chicken cages first thing. Four roosters, each in a plastic
milk crate, were at the end of the line.
    Hal put her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my, so
many choices. I don't know which rooster to bid on.”
    Emma leaned down to inspect each one. “We
know the rooster should be young to have gute hatches. He should be
fairly large. You will have nice sized fryers that way.”
    “ The bigger the better size wise for
the rooster that has to bluff out Tom Turkey I'm thinking,” Hal
suggested.
    “ That too,” Emma agreed.
    “ I don't want a mean one that will
attack me. I've seen the way Margaret Yoder's rooster comes at her
when she gathers eggs. It's not funny,” Hal declared.
    “ Agreed, but that is a hard trait to
find out about when the roosters are penned in a small cage,” Emma
told her. “Do you see one you like?”
    Hal looked at each of the roosters. She
pointed to the one on the end. The black and red feathers on that
rooster shimmered as he stood as tall as he could in cramped
quarters. His long, flourishing tail swiped the crate side.
“Him.”
    “ Why?” Emma asked.
    “ He is the prettiest,” Hal
said.
    “ After all I said, you are looking for
the prettiest rooster?” Emma asked in disdain.
    Hal folded her arms over her chest. “Fine, I
told you I'm not much good at this. You're the chicken expert in
this family so you pick one for me. I'll be happy with which ever
rooster you think is suitable.”
    Emma broke into a smile. “Actually, he is the
one I like, too. My reasons were just a bit more practical than
yours is all. Now we get a seat and wait. It is up to you to bid on
him.”
    Hal looked flustered. “You bid for me
please.”
    “ Ach, nah, this is your rooster. About
time you get used to bidding at an auction. Is Daed going to buy
you that milk goat today?”
    Hal shook her head. “Nah, I haven't gotten up
the nerve to talk to him about it yet. I wasn't sure what he'd
think of the idea. It took your father some getting used to when I
brought home the sheep.”
    Emma giggled. “I remember.”
    Hal's patience wore thin as she watched the
sale drag on. It took forever for the