The Amish Buggy Horse BOXED SET Books 1-3 (Amish Romance Book Bundle: Faith, Hope, Charity) (Boxed Set: The Amish Buggy Horse) (2 page)

Ephesians 2:8-9.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Chapter 3
.

Nettie grasped at her throat with both hands. "Is this a joke?" she asked. "Cats? But
Mamm
didn't even like cats, or any animals for that matter; she wouldn't even let me have a kitten, and I always wanted one."

Mr. Koble shook his head briefly, and then said, "You would be surprised how often people bequeath money to animal welfare leagues, for the reason that they are …" Mr. Koble's cheeks flushed, and he stopped speaking for a moment. "Of course you may contest the will," he continued, "and you are likely to win. Of course, contesting will take money. Do you have any funds of your own?"

"No, no." Nettie stood up, and then sat down in agitation. "Not a cent. I can’t contest the will; it’s not the Amish way. I’ll be penniless."

Mr. Koble nodded in understanding. "Ah yes, forgive me. The Amish do not contest wills. The Sunnybanks Stray Cat Protection League is still in operation too, after all this time; I checked. But this is prime farming land; surely you can work it?"

It was Nettie's turn to stare at Mr. Koble. "But I’ve no mules, no plow horses, no balers. I’ve nothing at all to use for farming the land. It's also neglected and run down, and I'm sure it’ll need a lot of money spent on it. I'm here all alone, by myself." Nettie took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. "How can I live? I have no money."

"You could sell the farm, I suppose." Mr. Koble said.

Nettie thought on that for a moment. If she sold the farm, she would have money on which to live, but where would she go? This was the only home she had ever known.
Nee
, she would not be thrown out of her own home. She needed to find work, but what skills did she have? She had a wide knowledge of herbal medicines, but she did not have the trust of anyone in the community. In fact, she didn’t even know anyone in the community, not any more. Her
mudder
had made sure of that.

Nettie would need to find work, but how would she get to work? Her horse had been retired; she wasn't even able to drive the buggy anywhere. Sure, there were taxis, but there was no phone in her barn. It was a long walk to the nearest shanty that housed the community phone; she had found that out when she had to walk to call the veterinarian. Without a buggy horse, she was trapped in the
haus
.

Panic threatened to overwhelm Nettie, and she fought against it.

Nettie decided at that moment that she would keep the farm, no matter what. It was her birthright, and she would not give it up.
Have some backbone
, she said to herself, and then winced as she realized that it had been one of her
mudder's
favorite sayings.

"Miss Swarey, are you all right?"

Nettie came back to the present with a jolt. She wondered how long Mr. Koble had been speaking to her.

"This is all quite a shock."

Mr. Koble simply smiled sympathetically, then stood up and handed her his card. "I'll be in touch. My office has made application for a Letters Testamentary to be issued, as you are the executor of your mother's will."

"Do I need to sign anything now?"

The lawyer shook his head slightly. "No. The will is currently in probate."

Nettie remembered that Mr. Koble had mentioned that word before. "Probate - what's that?"

"Probate is the process by which a will is proved to be valid or invalid in keeping with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania." Mr. Koble spoke slowly and said each word clearly.

"Oh, I see." Nettie's head was spinning.

"The Register of Wills will issue you with a Short Certificate."

Nettie simply nodded, not wanting to ask what a Short Certificate was. It made no difference; one thing was clear: she was to inherit the farm and
haus,
and stray cats were to inherit her
mudder's
money.

At any rate, Mr. Koble must have felt it necessary to explain. "A Short Certificate is a document that provides certified proof of the appointment of you as executor of the will, that is, of you as the Estate’s Personal Representative. You need it to gain access to the assets, that is, the house and the farm, and so on."

A sudden feeling of apprehension washed over Nettie. "Do you foresee any problems?"

Mr. Koble's bushy eyebrows rose. "No, not at all. It is all very straightforward."

Mr. Koble made a move to the door, and Nettie followed him out, after she set down his card on the table. It was a clear, spring day, but that did not help Nettie's mood, which had turned to despair and was on a rapid downward spiral.

After Mr. Koble drove away in his expensive looking car, Nettie walked onto the road and stood in the sunlight. Sunlight often lifted her mood, but today, so far, it was not helping. She had just turned back to the
haus,
when she heard the clip clop of hooves.
I wonder who could be visiting now?
Nettie thought.

Nettie turned around to see a beautiful, palomino horse trotting toward her. He did not seem frightened, but was simply trotting along. When he reached Nettie, he stopped and nuzzled her hand.

Nettie laughed. "Where have you escaped from, boy?" She stroked his golden neck and his long, white mane.

Harry, Nettie's retired buggy horse, called out to the palomino and he answered, whinnying softly. "I'll put you in with Harry and then I’ll have to walk all the way to the phone shanty," Nettie told the horse. "Although, who would I call? If I call the bishop, he will visit and ask me a lot more questions. Perhaps I should walk to the Glicks on the neighboring farm and tell them I've found you. Someone must be looking for you." Nettie did not want to visit the Glicks; after her secluded life, she was a little afraid of people, but she could see no other option. At least the Glicks would not ask her as many questions as the bishop had after her
mudder
had died. Sure, the bishop was well intentioned and kindly, but Nettie was not used to people.

Now another problem presented itself; how would she lead the horse to the field? She did not want to leave the horse standing on the road while she went to fetch a headstall, in case he ran away. Nettie suddenly had an idea. She unpinned her prayer
kapp
and wrapped it around the horse's neck. He did not seem to mind, and followed her willingly to the field, where Harry was delighted to see him.

Then, as the horse trotted away happily, Nettie noticed sweat marks on the horse where a harness had been. "He's a buggy horse!" Nettie said aloud. The horse looked in very good condition, but Nettie did not approve of the sweat marks on the horse. She thought it common sense, let alone good horse keeping skills, that the horse must be brushed thoroughly or washed after being driven in the buggy, to remove all dried sweat marks. What sort of owner did this horse have?

Isaiah 12:2.
Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.

Chapter 4
.

Nettie was glad of one thing; the horse was a buggy horse, so that would save her a long walk to the shanty to call the bishop, or a long walk to the nearby farm to speak to the Glicks. She would simply drive the horse to the Glicks'
haus
.

Nettie caught the horse, ignoring the complaints of Harry who did not want his new friend to leave, and took him to the barn. She tied him up, and gave him a thorough brushing. Nettie was a little worried that the horse might misbehave in the buggy, so after brushing him, she put the harness on rather carefully. He seemed fine about the harness, so she carefully hitched him to her buggy.

The horse was well behaved throughout, so Nettie led him outside, and walked him around in big circles. Again, he was well-mannered, so Nettie got in the buggy. She asked the horse to walk off slowly, and he did. She walked him around in circles, and made him stop a few times. He stopped very well and Nettie soon felt confident that he was a well trained buggy horse after all, so she set off at a walk in the direction of the Glicks' farm.

Nettie secretly hoped the owner would not be found too soon, as this horse was an answer to prayer. Without a buggy horse, she was trapped at the farm. Perhaps the bishop could arrange for her to borrow a horse from someone, just until she could find work and buy a buggy horse of her own.

Nettie was so lost in thought that, for a while, she did not notice another buggy approaching. She looked up to see a young
mann
driving a buggy pulled by a high stepping, bay horse that snorted and tossed his head when the
mann
pulled him to a stop next to Nettie.

Nettie was taken aback at the black look on the
mann's
face. "What are you doing with my horse?" he yelled.

Nettie was too taken aback to speak, so just sat there with her mouth open, trying to bite back the tears. When the
mann
continued to glare at her, she found her voice. "He just turned up at my
haus
."

"Why are you driving him then? Just because you found him, doesn't mean you can keep him!" 

Nettie winced at the accusatory tone in the
mann's
voice. She was fed up with being bullied and yelled at; she'd had years of it with her
mudder
, and now this stranger was accusing her of being a horse thief, when all she was trying to do was to do the right thing, to find the horse's owner.

A wave of indignation swept over her. "Now see here," she said in a commanding tone. "How dare you accuse me of wrongdoing! This horse turned up outside my
haus
, and as my only buggy horse is lame and has had to be retired, I had no way of contacting anyone to tell them I’d found him. I couldn't drive my own horse, so I harnessed up this horse and I was on my way to the Glicks to tell them that I’d found him."

The
mann
looked taken aback at Nettie's manner. "Why didn’t you call someone? Don’t you have a phone in your barn?" His tone was less accusatory and more enquiring.

"
Nee
, I do not," Nettie snapped. "And it's a long walk to the phone shanty, as I found out when my buggy horse went lame and I had to call the veterinarian to him. Besides, you should be thanking me for finding your horse." Nettie was fuming at the
mann's
manner; how dare he speak to her like that!

As the
mann
opened his mouth to speak, Nettie remembered the harness marks on the horse. "Besides, I also brushed your horse. You should be ashamed of yourself leaving a horse with sweat marks."

The
mann
gasped, and his face went from a fading red to a deep shade of purple. "For your information, I tied him up and was about to wash him, but when I came back outside the barn, I found him missing. I then harnessed up this horse and went in search of him."

"Oh." Nettie was glad to hear he had intended to wash the horse, but his manner with people left a lot to be desired. "Well," she said, "you can follow me back to my
haus
and then take your horse." Her voice shook when she said that, with the realization that she had no buggy horse after all.

"Where is your
haus
?" The
mann
looked less angry now.

Nettie waved her hand in the general direction of her farm. "I'm Nettie Swarey."

The
mann
once again looked shocked. "Oh. Well, I'm sorry to hear about your
mudder
."

"
Denki
."

The
mann
took a moment to settle his horse which was pawing the ground and snorting. "I'm Daniel Glick."

Nettie simply nodded.

"And your horse is lame?" he asked.

"
Jah
, and the veterinarian said he must be retired."

"And he's your only horse?"

"
Jah
," Nettie said again, wondering where Daniel Glick was going with this line of questioning.

"Why don’t you borrow the horse, then? You're most welcome to. I have this horse as you see, and I don’t need two horses."

Nettie's response was automatic. "
Denki
, but
nee
, I couldn’t possibly do that." She silently rebuked herself for saying that; this would be an answer to prayer.

"It would make me feel better for the rude way I spoke to you, and you’d be doing me a favor," Daniel continued. "He's a very good buggy horse, but he likes to be in work and I don't have time to drive him. My own horse here is highly strung and needs a lot of work to keep him calm." As if on cue, Daniel's horse arched his neck and pawed the ground angrily. "You'd be doing me a favor, actually," he repeated.

Nettie thought for a moment. She had prayed to
Gott
to find her another buggy horse, and it seemed as if He had. She should accept the provision of
Gott
gracefully. "
Denki
, that is very kind of you," she said meekly. "It may be some time before I can get another buggy horse, though."

Daniel waved her concerns away. "Keep him as long as you like," he said. "By the way, his name is Blessing."

* * *

Daniel watched the girl drive away at a trot, admiring the fact that she had harnessed up a strange buggy horse and driven him. Why, for all the girl knew, the horse could have had any manner of behavioral problems and even been dangerous. She had courage to harness a strange horse and drive him on the road.

Yet Daniel was surprised at Nettie Swarey herself. He had imagined her much older, and far less attractive, what with some of the local
Englischer
schoolchildren referring to her as "an old witch." When he had gotten over the initial shock of seeing someone driving his lost horse, he had been surprised to see that the driver was a pretty, round-faced, blonde girl, with a creamy complexion and deep, blue eyes.
Wary eyes
, he said to himself, and then chuckled when he remembered how she had stood up to him.

He was embarrassed over his implication that she had stolen the horse, but the shy, retiring, secretive Nettie Swarey he had heard about was not the same girl who had dressed him down for falsely accusing her and for leaving harness marks on his horse.

Daniel laughed aloud, and then smiled to himself all the way back to the Glicks' farm.