Amish Country Arson Read Online Free PDF Page A

her.
    “ Elton has a mystery. His cup went dry,
and he did not empty the cup himself.” John chuckled as he pointed
at Redbird.
    “ Well, the rest of you won't find it so
funny when you're the one holding that child. She does that to me
all the time. Dad, you better check your cup. Beth copies whatever
her sister does. She may have drank yours dry,” Hal
warned.
    Beth had Jim's cup to her mouth. He took it
from her and looked in the cup. “I rescued a swallow or two.” Jim
smiled at her as he teased, “You get your own cup, girl.”
    Beth pouted and held her hands out to take
the cup. “Mine, mine.”
    “ Aunt Tootie, could you please bring us
more coffee.” Hal tossed the basket in the mud room, before she sit
next to Elton. “Get a cup of milk for Redbird and Beth so they
won't bother the coffee cups, and you two join us. You need to take
a break, too.”
    Elton mentioned, “Have you heard there is a
new family bought the farm next to Moses and Stella Strutt?”
    “ What happened to Amos Boxholder?” John
asked.
    “ He moved into a grossdawdi house
William built for him by his house. William cannot handle farming
both farms so they had to sell Amos's farm,” Elton explained. “Jane
and I visited with the new couple yesterday. I wanted to give them
directions to next Sunday's service at Luke Yoder's
farm.
    “ How many in the family?” Hal
asked.
    “ Enoch Bruner and his wife, Wanda, and
the wife's sister, Gladys Kraybill. The sister lives in the old
grossdawdi house next to the house that belonged to Amos's parents
years ago. We did not see her. Wanda Bruner said she was not
feeling well,” Elton said.
    “ I'll introduce myself to them on
Sunday so they know where to come if they need medical help,” Hal
said. She focused on Noah and Daniel across from her. “Have you
seen the mess your dog made of my flowers at the end of the porch?
I know it's about time to pull them and clean the bed, but I wanted
to enjoy the flowers as long as I could before they
froze.”
    Noah looked puzzled. “Was ist letz with the
flowers?”
    “ Biscuit uprooted some of them. The
rest he covered with dirt and mashed the plants over,” Hal said
testily. “Go see for yourselves.”
    The boys headed for the door, and they
weren't gone long. Noah declared, “Biscuit did not do that
digging.”
    “ How do you know that?” Jane
asked.
    “ Whatever dug was clearing a hole so it
could go under the porch to hide,” Daniel said.
    “ What kind of animal does that?” Aunt
Tootie's hand went to her throat. “That end of the porch is close
to where I sleep.”
    Noah shrugged. “We do not know yet. We filled
in the hole. Maybe the animal is gone.”
    The next morning after kitchen cleanup, Hal
said, “I'm going to rake leaves off the yard and garden into the
road ditch to burn.”
    “ Looks like a nice morning to do yard
work.” Nora turned to Aunt Tootie. “You want to watch the girls or
help Hal rake leaves.”
    Aunt Tootie said quickly, “I can watch the
girls and start lunch if you aren't done by then.”
    Nora winked at Hal. “That's fine, Tootie.
Hal, find me a rake.”
    Hal and Nora made the trip to the tool shed.
As they walked by the end of the porch, Hal glanced at her flower
bed. Her marigolds were buried under another pile of dirt. A gaping
hole tunneled under the porch.
    “ Oh no, look, Mom. That critter didn't
leave. We need to do something to run him off,” Hal declared. “I'll
ask Dad and John what they think we should do when they get back
from town.”
    The women managed to clean the yard in time
to start lunch. As Hal put Nora's rake in the tool shed, she said,
“I don't know how long the men will be gone to Wickenburg after
supplies. We won't wait lunch on them. They can eat when they get
back.”
    They were climbing the porch steps when Nora
reached out and took Hal by the arm to stop her. She grinned. “How
about we sit for a few minutes to rest? Tootie said she could start
lunch. Let's hold her