Amish Country Arson (3 page)

When John and Hal returned home, dawn was
just slipping a layer of red over the eastern horizon. As John
parked the buggy by the barn, Biscuit, the boy's cream colored coon
hound, rose from in front of the barn. He raced to greet the buggy
with his yapping bark. John parked by the barn, and Biscuit peed on
a back wheel.

The generator was humming yet so John headed
for the barn.

Jim greeted, “We're just about done.”

John said, “You must have gotten an early
start this morning.”

Jim shook his head yes. “None of us could go
back to sleep for worrying about the Stolfus family. We spent some
time looking out the west windows at the flames. That wasn't doing
any good so the boys and I figured it was time to milk.”

Hal found her mother, Nora, and Aunt Tootie
preparing breakfast. Redbird and Beth, in their high chairs,
chattered and kicked their bare feet excitedly when they saw their
mother. She bent to give them each a kiss on the cheek.

“
I should start the laundry while I
still have some energy left. I'll get the wash water heated and put
a load of clothes in the washing machine,” Hal said.

“
What was burning?” Aunt Tootie
asked.

“
The barn,” Hal said
wearily.

“
Is the fire out now?” Nora
asked.

Hal shook her head no. “Not quite. The
firemen are staying as long as it takes to spray the smoldering hay
that was in the loft. They're afraid the strong breeze will carry
sparks toward the house.”

“
Was anyone hurt?” Aunt Tootie asked as
she flipped the sizzling sausage cakes in the iron
skillet.

“
Nah, the family woke up in time to get
outside. This will be a costly fire for the family with loss of
livestock and hay. I'm sure the cows milk production will cut way
down while they aren't feeling well. A lot of them were burnt and
may died. The horses might be sick, too. Watching their livestock
suffer is an awful time for the Stolfus family,” lamented
Hal.

Just before breakfast, Hal carried a wicker
basket of clothes through the wet grass to the clothes line. A
light frost had glazed everything earlier, but the blaring sun
melted it to glittering beads of cold dew.

Damp bits of fresh mowed grass clung to her
bare feet. Hal stood on one foot and rubbed it with the other then
reversed the procedure to remove the pieces of grass. The generator
was quiet in the barn. The men must be finished.

Daniel had opened the chicken house door on
the way to milk. Tom Turkey joined his harem of hens, scratching in
the barn yard. Funny how Tom realized Abraham, the rooster, wasn't
around anymore. He saw his chance to became ruler of the chicken
flock.

That reminded Hal that she had to go with
John soon to the salebarn. She needed to buy her own rooster if she
wanted to hatch chicks next spring for fryers and pullets. Emma
took Abraham and half the flock of hens to her new home when she
married Adam.

What would happen when the new rooster tried
to take over the hens? Hal was afraid Tom wasn't going to like
giving up his senior position. When Tom Turkey didn't like
something he had quite a temper.

Near the lean-to, Buttercat had a successful
hunt going on in a game of cat and mouse. He threw a mouse up in
the air and sent it a few feet from him. Once the mouse landed and
crawled away, Buttercat pounced under the courting buggy after
it.

Hal grimaced as she watched the weak mouse
belly along the ground. It was all right for the cat to play with
the nasty thing as long as he kept it near the barn. If the mouse
got away, which was doubtful, it would hopefully escape to the barn
instead of coming to the house.

Biscuit flattened in the grass by the barn
door with one ear alert, waiting for the boys to come out. He'd
sprint to life quick enough with his tail whipping and follow them
as soon as they appeared.

The happy wren in the maple tree chortled a
loud serenade. Weary as she was, Hal didn't appreciate the noise
this morning. She picked a shirt out of the basket and shook it at
the tree, shouting, “Hush, Wren! Go away.”

The wet, blue shirt made a popping sound as
it straightened out. The wren quit singing long enough to climb
higher in the tree. As soon as he felt safe, he started his
chortles again.

Hal shaded her eyes with her hand and
searched out the tiny bird, one of God's happy creatures. As she
stuck a clothes pin on the shirt tail, she instantly felt guilty.
She shouldn't take her bad mood out on that little bird. He had
given her hours of pleasure. “All recht, I'm sorry, Mr. Wren. Sing
your heart out for me, but could you keep the volume down? You
didn't lose sleep last night like I did.”

Hal picked up the empty basket and noticed
the men and boys, peeking over the barn door, smothering laughter.
Hal headed to the back door as she yelled over her shoulder.
“Breakfast is ready.”

After breakfast, Hal carried the last load of
clothes to the line. At the sound of slowing clip clops, her
attention focused on the buggy turning into the driveway. Bishop
Elton Bontrager pulled to a stop by the house yard. His wife, Jane,
and he climbed down.

“
Wilcom, Elton. The men are in the
barn. They left the clean up until after breakfast. They should be
almost done,” Hal called.

The short, rolly poly man waved over his
shoulder as he walked to the barn. The bishop acted like a man on a
mission. His wife walked across the yard toward Hal. Jane's hair
had more gray in the brown every time Hal saw her. “Gute Morgen,
Sister Jane. You're up and going early.”

Jane looked solemn.“We had excitement in the
neighborhood last night, ain't so? Elton and I could not sleep
after the fire trucks woke us up for worrying about the Stolfus
family.”

Hal brought a pair of trousers from the
basket and shook them out. “Jah, how scary that was when the fire
trucks went by in the night. The frightful noise woke everyone.
Scared the girls and Aunt Tootie worse than the rest of us.
Honestly, sometimes she's harder to calm down than Redbird and
Beth.”

“
Even scarier yet is the fact someone
deliberately set that fire.” Jane picked up a smaller pair of
trousers and stuck her hand in the clothes pin bag as she shook the
trousers one handed. “We just came from the Stolfus farm. Jonah
sure was missing his barn this morning at milking time. The cows
are skittish, and they did not want to cooperate out in the
open.”

“
I can imagine. His cows are used to a
milking machine just like ours. Hand milking seemed strange to
them.”

“
Fortunately, between Jonah, his boys,
Eli Mast and Samuel Nisely they moved the cows down the road to
Samuel's barn. Samuel and Eli were going to helped finish the
milking.”

“
Jane, you don't have to help with
this,” Hal protested half heartedly.

“
You had a short night already with
lots more work ahead of you than I will have to do today.” Jane
turned and waved at the men as they walked up the porch steps and
went in the house.

The dog was trailing along behind the boys.
He stopped at the steps, made three turns in the grass and curled
up to sleep. He'd patiently wait for the boys to come outside.

Jane said, “Sure enough, I will help you
finish recht quick. As soon as we are done, we can join the men and
have a cup of coffee.

We watched the fire trucks out the window in
the night and saw John and you go by. Recht after you left for
home, we drove to the Stolfus farm to see if anyone was hurt. We
prayed with Jonah and his family and the men helping them. So you
see our night was short, too.”

“
Sure enough. We'll need a cup of
coffee or two to keep us going this day. When I think of the daily
needs for this family, I am so thankful Mom and Aunt Tootie are
still here. They're such a help to me. This morning, they cooked
breakfast. John and I got home just in time to help them eat it,
and that left me time to do the laundry. Now that the days cool off
fast if I don't get the clothes on the line early, they don't have
time to dry.

Dad helped the boys the milk. I sure am going
to miss my parents and Aunt Tootie when they go home,” Hal
confessed. “Especially, when I have to do all the cooking
again.”

“
Maybe they will not leave for a while
yet. Do not worry until it is time to worry,” Jane suggested,
patting Hal's shoulder.

“
It's time recht now to worry. Dad is
already making hints about leaving for home soon before the snow
flies. I can't blame him. I don't want him to have to drive on
slick roads,” Hal said woefully, fastening the last pair of
trousers with a clothes pin.

“
You should have more faith in
yourself, Hal Lapp. You will do fine without any help. I am sure of
it. You managed alone while Emma taught school all day,” encouraged
Jane.

Hal put the empty basket on her hip. “Emma
left me a list each morning of tasks to do and suggestions for
meals. When she came home, she corrected the mistakes I made or
worked fast to finish what I didn't get done.”

“
There is a world of difference between
that girl and you. Emma is speedy and experienced homemaker. You
have yet to learn and do the tasks at your own speed. You can do
it,” Jane bolstered.

As they headed back to the porch, Hal
stopped. “Ach, nah. Look at my pretty marigolds, will you?”

Jane's face scrunched up in dislike as she
studied the mashed plants' dirty yellow flowers. “How did they get
in such an awful shape?”

Hal moved closer. “Something dug here. See
how the flowers are covered with dirt.”

“
Must have been the dog,” Jane
surmised.

“
Biscuit has never done this before in
my flower beds,” Hal defended.

“
Still when a dog has a bone to bury he
usually picks the softest dirt to dig the hole,” Jane said
knowingly.

Hal marched up the steps. “Let's go see what
the boys have to say about this.”

Swinging their legs back and forth to hear
their feet slap against the high chair legs, the two years old
little girls were impatient. Redbird, a redhead, looked very much
like her mother. Beth, with light brown hair, resembled her late
mother, Anna. The toddlers were restless. They would rather be on
the floor, free to wander around. The front door banged shut. They
twisted in their high chairs at the sound of familiar men's voices
in the living room. When the men entered the kitchen, Redbird saw
Elton among them. She gave him a wide smile as she held her hands
out to him, begging for him to set her free.

Elton looked at John for permission. “Will it
be all recht if I hold Redbird?”

“
Sure enough. I better warn you after
the girls have rutsched around this might be Redbird's way to get
to the floor. She might not let you hold her long, ” John advised,
releasing the tray from the chair.

Elton grinned at him. “I will take my
changes.”

When Beth saw Redbird get her freedom, she
held her arms up to Jim with a begging look on her face. “I'd say
my buddy wants out of her chair, too.” He took off the tray and
rescued Beth.

As soon as the men were seated, Aunt Tootie
came around with coffee cups and the pot.

Elton blew on his steaming cup and took a
small sip before he set the cup down. “John, I just came from the
Stolfus farm. We need to organize a barn raising as soon as
possible. Jonah needs a barn set up for milking. It will not be as
handy going to Samuel Nisely's to milk by hand with as many cows as
he has. Jonah will be over there several times a day with plenty of
vet work to do on the burnt stock, too. That all takes time and is
unhandy.”

“
You announce that at the worship
service this Sunday during the member meeting. We will get
organized recht away,” John agreed.

Jim set his cup down. “Did Mr. Stolfus figure
out what caused the fire?”

“
The sheriff arrived to investigate
before we left,” Elton said. “Jonah saw someone on horse back
leaving his cornfield. The rider headed east. It was too dark to
make out more than that when he looked out the bedroom window. The
sheriff thinks someone set the fire.”

“
That's awful,” Aunt Tootie said,
hanging her dish towel on the line behind the cookstove. “What is
this world coming to when someone can be that mean for no
reason?”

“
Why would anyone burn that man's nice
big barn,” Nora declared on her way out the back door to empty the
dish pan.

Elton picked up his cup and took a drink
while he pondered his answer. He set the cup down to respond. “We
may never know what makes a man do such an evil act, but this is
the only world we have. It is filled with all kinds of people, gute
and bad.

Jonah looked out the window in time to see
the fire started on the southeast side of the barn. The sheriff and
fire chief looked there first. They found a fragment of a plastic
juice bottle and a white lid. Partial label looked like it might be
a ten ounce Tropicana Orange Juice. The plastic smelled of
kerosene.

Sheriff Dawson wanted the names of boys in
rumspringa. He wondered if they had been joy riding and drinking.
One of them might have torched the barn for a prank.”

“
Did you come up with names?” John
asked.

“
I gave him a few in strict confidence,
but I did not want to accuse anyone. I explained to the sheriff our
teenagers are allowed rumspringa, before they commit to our faith.
Sometimes, they act more English than Plain. That does not make
them guilty of such a horrible crime. Noah and Daniel, you know the
boys I am thinking of. Have you heard one of them brag they were
about to set a fire?” The bishop asked.