Amish Country Arson (13 page)

Noah and Daniel heard the excitement in
Albert's voice while Daniel untied the dog. They turned to see him
come out of the brush and looked where he pointed.

“
Odd he should see that fire right now
after we talked to him about the arsonist,” Noah said.

Daniel tugged on Noah's arm. “We need to get
out of here. Fire will travel fast in this dry timber. We are on
foot.”

The teenagers jumped into action, packing and
closing coolers. They were soon running for buggies, horses and
cars.

Noah said, “We can head for the phone shed
and call the fire department.”

Albert heard him as he past the boys. “I have
a cell phone. I can call.” He brought a phone out of his trouser
pocket and made the call as he ran.

Sirens blared when Noah and Daniel were a
mile from home. They made it safely to the road before the fire ate
its way through the timber.

John waited up for them on the porch swing.
His voice came out of the dark. “How did it go?”

“
We watched Albert Jostle spike his
vodka with a small bottle of Tropicana orange juice like has been
found at the other fires,” Noah said. “I asked him if he had heard
anything about the arsonist. I told him it did not seem like a gute
idea to have a party with someone sneaking around setting
fires.”

“
Albert said he did not worry about the
arsonist. We left and stopped to untie Biscuit from a gooseberry
bush near the clearing. Next thing we knew Albert yelled the timber
was on fire,” Daniel said.

John gasped. “What?”

“
Albert came out of the bushes and told
everyone to get out of the timber fast,” Noah said.

“
Did everyone get out all right?” John
asked.

“
Jah, the breeze blew the smoke at the
party so they had plenty of warning,” Daniel said.

“
Did you call the fire
department?”

“
We said we would run for the phone
shed. Albert Jostle said we did not have to do that. He has a cell
phone,” Noah shared.

“
Sure enough, you think Albert set the
fire?” John asked.

“
We did not see him do it, Daed? All we
know is, he was bragging the arsonist did not scare him, and he is
the first one who saw the fire,” Noah affirmed.

The in between Sunday came and went quietly.
Normally, the Lapp family might have gone visiting since they
didn't have worship service. They, as well as everyone else in the
Plain community, felt it was safer to stay home until the arsonist
was caught. The next Sunday, when they had a worship service to
attend, the whole Plain community would be there no matter
what.

Hal was happy to spend the quiet day at home
with her parents and aunt. She knew she wouldn't have them around
much longer. Besides, she continued to have a nagging headache that
subsided only when she remembered to take Tylenol.

Gano continued to be a headache in the making
for John and the boys. The milk goat seemed to like the sheep, and
the flock liked her which was a good thing. It was just that Gano
liked people better. She jumped over the pasture fence as soon as
she heard voices in the yard or barn. The goat was a soft footed
escape artist. She'd slipped up on members of the family and bit
into their shirt or apron. The goat pulled backward before they
knew she was close, almost knocking them off their feet.

Aunt Tootie had just about quit going outside
by herself. Between the rooster bristling up at everyone and the
goat trailing them, she decided it was safer to be house bound.

On Monday morning, John decided to donate a
load of hay bales so early that morning, Jim and he dropped bales
from the loft to Noah and Daniel on a hay wagon. John climbed on
top a stack of bales that reached to the rafter and handed the
bales down to Jim. John's foot sank into a hole between the bales.
To keep from falling, he grabbed the rafter. His fingers pushed
something off in front of him, and it landed by his feet. John
picked the radio up and stared at it.

“
What you got?” Jim asked.

“
A radio,” John answered, holding it
up.

Jim asked, “How do you reckon it got up
there?”

“
I do not know,” John said solemnly.
“This could only be hidden by one or both of my sons. Both of them
know this radio is not permitted by our Ordnung.”

From the wagon, David called, “Are you having
trouble in the loft?”

Jim went to the window. “No, this old man
just needed a rest. Another bale will be down quick like.” He
balanced on the bales as he walked back to John. “We should keep
the bales coming.”

“
Jah, I will worry about this problem
later. Jim, keep this to yourself about me finding this radio. It
is just going to mysteriously disappear for right now,” John
grinned.

“
I understand,” Jim said, returning the
grin.

That afternoon, the boys took turns staying
with their pumpkins and squashes in the stand and taking the goat
back to the pasture. Gano figured out where they were in a hurry
and could be counted on to show up several times a day to say
hello.

After supper, Daniel complained to Hal that
he spent most of his day taking the goat back to the pasture.

John replied, “We now know why Rudy had the
goat in that horse stall in his barn. It was the only place with
high enough walls the goat could not jump over. If we had not
showed up when we did, he would have sold that nuisance goat at the
salebarn.”

“
Wonder how Rudy Briskey came to name
the goat Gano?” Jim puzzled. “Sure is a funny name for a
goat.”

“
It is for sure, Dad,” Hal said. “John,
does Gano mean something in Pennsylvania Dutch?”

John shook his head. “Nah.”

Aunt Tootie piped up. “It sounds like a
Spanish word.”

“
You might be right,” Nora agreed.
“Hal, do you still have that book on language translations to
English we gave you when you became a nurse.”

“
Jah, it's in the quilt chest in our
bedroom. I'll go get it,” Hal said and went upstairs.

She came back and sat by the gas lamp at the
end of the cough to look through it. “Let's see. Here is the
Spanish section.” She went through the G pages.” “Oh, no!”

“
What does it say for Gano, dear?” Aunt
Tootie asked.

With a meek tone, Hal said, “Gano means I
win.”

John grimaced. “Are you sure?”

“
Jah,” Hal said.

“
That means in Rudy Briskey language
that he got the last laugh on us again,” John grumbled. He rubbed
his forehead and fingered his bible for a moment. Suddenly, his
face lightened up, and he burst out laughing.

Just the reaction the rest of them hoped for
from John, since they were having a hard time holding back their
laughter.

A few minutes after that, Bishop Bontrager
and his wife, Jane, stopped by to see how Hal was feeling. While
they sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and eating a piece of
spice cake, John asked how the plans for the barn raising were
coming along.

Bishop Bontrager tapped his cup with his
fingers. “In the previous week, volunteer help to build the barn
had been secured by a committee that mailed invitations to other
nearby Amish communities. Also, offers of help came through the
Amish hot line.”

“
Exactly what is that?” Jim
asked.

Jane explained, “We have a telephone call
list that enables members to quickly forward news, prayer requests
and important church news.”

The bishop added, “The committee in charge of
notifying everyone about the barn raising gave them two days notice
on the hot line. A week's notice was provided for Stolfus relatives
farther away that will want to help.”

“
Levi Yoder stopped by our stand,” Noah
said. “He says the Amish sawmill had been turning out oak and pine
planks, laboring fast to fill the order in time for the barn
raising.”

“
Sure seems like an old fashion event,
putting up a barn in this day and age this way,” Nora
surmised.

Hal nodded. “Barn raisings are associated
with the Amish, but if I remember my American history right in the
1700 and 1800's during homesteading, barn raising events united
English neighbors regardless of religious affiliation. Volunteers
provided labor for residents who lost a barn through disaster or
who wanted to expand their farming.”

Jim added, “The tradition of building raising
is part of the past as far as the English are concerned. As time
passed, the English invented labor saving devices like cranes which
reduced the need for volunteers to do the heavy lifting.

A crane is rented to use to set center beams
and complete other heavy chores like lifting the walls. Less
accidents happened when a crane lifts the heavy beams and walls
instead of many men working together. Construction on a building
gets done just as fast.

Now English people are willing to pay
carpenters to build houses and barns.”

“
The Amish see the tradition of barn
raising differently, ain't so, Bishop?” John raised an eyebrow at
Elton Bontrager. “Plain people don't expect barn or house raisings
to ever go away. Helping each other is part of being
Amish.”

After the Bontragers said good bye, John
followed Elton and Jane outside. He shoved his hands in his trouser
pockets as he spoke, “Bishop, could I talk to you for a minute in
private?”

“
Sure enough. Jane, go on to the
buggy,” Elton said and watched for his wife to get out of ear shot.
“Now, John, was ist letz?”

“
Today we filled a wagon with hay to
take over to the new Stolfus barn when it is done. While Jim and I
worked in the hayloft, I accidentally discovered a transistor radio
on a rafter.”

Bishop Elton clasped his hands in front of
him. “I see. Do you know the owner?”

“
Nah, but I wondered if you might
consider a sermon on our beliefs about no modern conveniences, and
aim it at at the youth in rumspringa. Perhaps, it will be what Noah
or Daniel or both of them needs to hear to repent for buying the
radio.”

“
Be glad to help you out, Brother John.
This sounds like a timely sermon that might help other youth to
give up the English ways,” the bishop said. “If the sermon works,
let me know how this matter turned out.”

“
Denki, you can count on that, Bishop,”
John said.

The Stolfus barn raising was actually a
thoroughly planned process. At the beginning, Plain children
descended on the Stolfus farm with their sleeves rolled up, ready
to start and finish the clean up effort in a day. Removing the old
barn's foundation, rubble and ashes was necessary. A very long
labor intensive day, but young and enthusiastic hands made light
work. While children cleared the cement blocks away, they salvaged
the usable blocks to use in the new foundation.

The school children of all ages chattered as
they worked and even broke out in a hymn. At midday, they stopped
for lunch when women called them to take a break.

Hal, her mother, and aunt brought sandwiches.
Linda Yoder and her mother-in-law, Margaret, brought potato salad.
Emma brought a pea salad. Edna Stolfus baked three cakes. Roseanna
Nisely made one hundred doughnuts. The drinks in coolers were grape
Kool Aid and ice tea. Several coolers of water were for any time
the youngsters were thirsty. Some just needed to wash down the bad
taste from the smoke and ashes.

Eager to get finished by the end of the day,
the children ate and returned to work. The women were packing up
their baskets and washing dishes when they heard the painful yell.
They stopped to look toward what remained of the rubble. The
children had grouped together, milling around Mark Yoder.

Linda Yoder exclaimed, “Something is wrong
with my son. He's hopping on one foot.”

The women ran to the boy, Daniel's age, as he
hopped across the driveway with his brother, Levi, and Noah holding
him upright. Daniel and Davie Stolfus got behind Mark and helped
lower him to the lawn.

The boy held his left foot, rocking back and
forth as he groaned.

“What happened, Mark?” Linda asked, pushing
his dark hair back from his sweaty forehead.

Mark swallowed hard to hold back tears. “I
stepped on a nail. It went through my shoe.”

Hal went to her knees beside him. “Let me
see. She looked at the sole of his farmer shoe. The head of a
square, rusty nail stuck out an inch from the sole. The rest was in
Mark's foot.

“Bring me a bolt cutter to take off the head
of the nail so we can slip Mark's shoe off. We'll also need a pair
of pliers to pull the nail out of his foot,” Hal said.

“I'll get them,” Davie shuffled away, headed
for the tool shed.

Mark's completion was ashen. Hal was afraid
he'd pass out. “Linda, sit beside Mark and hold his hand.”

“What can we do?” Edna asked.

“I need a pan of water, a cloth and towel. We
have to wash the blood off Mark's foot so I can see to clean the
wound. Also, clean cloth to use as a bandage,” Hal listed.

Edna Stolfus and Margaret Yoder rushed to the
house. Davie came back with the bolt cutter.

Levi Yoder took the cutter from Davie. “Let
me cut the nail off, Nurse Hal.”

“Gute. Noah, hold Mark's leg gute and tight
so he doesn't flinch.” As Noah moved by Mark, a glance at the
concern on Daniel's face for his best friend told Hal he needed
something to do to help. “Daniel, you put your arm around Mark and
lower him to the ground. Stay by his side to keep him from moving.
All recht, Noah, hold the foot steady. Levi, cut the nail
head.”