Free Amish Country Arson by Fay Risner Page B

enough.”
    “ Not if we are the only two that know I
have it,” Noah said.
    Daniel shrugged. “It is your money and maybe
your hide.”
    Back home, Hal climbed out of the buggy. She
reached up to take the rooster cage from Emma and place it on the
ground. While Hal turned to help Aunt Tootie down, the rooster
stretched his neck and crowed a hello greeting to the farm.
    Tom Turkey's long neck stretched in the air
to look around. When he heard the crow of a stranger, he scattered
the hens he was with as he raced to the crate. Tom lowered his head
and peered through the square holes as he bristled his feathers.
After he had a good look at the rooster, he straightened and backed
up. He stared at the cage while he stomped a foot in warning. The
turkey fanned his tail and gobbled a complaint as he circled the
cage, causing the rooster to growl and peck the crate.
    Aunt Tootie backed up behind the buggy, ready
to run for the house. She shook her finger at the turkey. “Oh dear,
Tom looks mad.”
    Emma waved her apron tail at Tom, backing him
up a few feet. “Shoo! That's not a very nice wilcom for the new
rooster!”
    Noah frowned. “Mama Hal, Tom is not going to
let you turn the rooster loose. He is asking for a fight already.
The way the rooster is bristling up, I think he is willing to
oblige.”
    “ I do not think the rooster can win in
a fight with Tom,” Daniel surmised.
    “ Fudge! What are we going to do?” Hal
asked.
    “ Put Tom in the barn for a few days
until the rooster gets used to the farm. That way he will have time
to find places to get out of Tom's reach,” Daniel
suggested.
    “ Just make sure that turkey stays in
the pen room. I do not want him pestering the milk cows when we
milk,” John warned.
    “ Sure enough,” Noah said. “Help me get
Tom in the barn, Daniel.”
    Noah and Daniel herded the turkey to the
barn. Daniel opened the door. Curious now, Tom forgot about the
rooster as he craned his neck to look inside. This was a new place
for him to check out. He hopped in and wandered around.
    “ What are you going to name your
rooster, Hallie?” Emma asked.
    Hal paused to think. “I hadn't thought about
a name. How about Joseph?”
    “ Why Joseph?”
    “ Because the rooster has a coat of many
colors,” Hal replied.
    “ Sure enough,” Emma agreed.
    Noah hitched up Emma's buggy for her, and she
left for home. The women went to the house to fix supper. While
John and Jim was busy in the milk room, Noah climbed to the loft
and stood on a stack of bales to reach the top side of a rafter. He
fished the radio out of his trouser pocket and placed it next to a
beam so he could easily find it. When he came back to the milk room
to help, Daniel raised an eyebrow at him. Noah winked.
    In the kitchen, Aunt Tootie said, “While you
ladies get prepared for supper, I'd be glad to go gather the
eggs.”
    “ That is great,” Hal said. “Thank you,
Aunt Tootie.”
    After the mudroom door closed, Hal gave her
mother a wide eyed expression. “Aunt Tootie has never offered to
gather eggs. Why now?”
    Nora giggled. “You should be wise to your
aunt by now. My dear sister likes to pick and choose the tasks she
volunteers to do. At this moment, she thinks gathering eggs is the
easier one.”
    Aunt Tootie swung the egg bucket back and
forth to scare the chickens out of her way. The hens cackled and
scurried to keep from getting hit. Tootie narrowed her eyes to see
into the dark hen house. Just two hens on the nests which beat half
a dozen or better. She should scare the hens off the nest, but she
wasn't going to bother two. She excused they might still be trying
to lay. If they had an egg under them, Hal would never miss one or
two eggs from this gathering. Tomorrow Hal could bring the extra
eggs. The hens would peck if Aunt Tootie stuck her hand under them,
and she didn't like to get peck.
    She walked along the three tiers of empty
nesting boxes and gently put the eggs into the bucket. That job
didn't take