Amish Country Arson by Fay Risner Read Free Book Online

the congregation to be watchful for such a person,” Wanda
said. “At the member meeting, plans were made to help build Jonah
Stolfus a new barn. He will be able to milk his cows at home soon.
He lost all his hay so the bishop asked for offerings to replace
his loss. Rudy Briskey generously offered a whole wagon load of
bales. That brought other farmers forward to offer their hay to
help Jonah Briskey.
    I think we made the right decision to come
here, Sister. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. They all pitch
together when another family needs help.”
    “Sounds like it. That is gute,” Gladys
agreed, looking at her hands in her lap.
    The Lapp family arrived home from the worship
service after an afternoon of visiting. Hal remembered she hadn't
taken the time to check the live trap before they left for the
Yoder farm. While the rest of the family went inside, she walked to
the end of the porch and looked down. The trap hadn't thrown, but
the two eggs had round holes broken in them and sucked dry. Beside
the trap was another freshly dug hole.
    Hal called, “Noah, Daniel, come out
here.”
    The boys came out the screen door, stuffed
their hands in their trouser pockets and waited.
    Hal pointed toward her flower bed. “The
monster under the porch has eaten two of my gute eggs and didn't
throw the trap. Now it has dug another hole to by pass the trap. Do
something, please!”
    The boys walked to the edge of the porch and
jumped off. They squatted to inspect the digging.
    Noah pointed at the hole. “The animal dug
that hole to get out from under the porch. I know because the dirt
is on the back side the hole.”
    “Will the skunk come back now that he has
gotten away?” Hal asked.
    “Probably. The skunk seems to like his new
home. Give us two more eggs, Mama Hal,” Daniel said.
    Noah suggested, “We could get a couple scraps
of plywood and lay along this side of the porch so the animal
cannot dig.”
    “Whatever it takes, I'm all for it,” Hal
said.
    “We will have to lay the boards on your
flowers,” Noah warned.
    “Do it. As you can see the flowers are
ruined. It hurts me to look at them so they need to be pulled
anyway,” Hal said.
    “We can do that for you before we lay the
boards down. The plywood will lay more level,” Daniel offered.
    Hal stopped with her hand on the screen door
handle. “While you do pull and carry the flowers off, I'll hunt up
a box of mothballs to throw under the porch. We'll find out if Aunt
Tootie is recht about skunks not liking the scent.”
    It didn't take the boys long to pull the
flowers and leave with their arms full of marigold plants. Hal sat
in the porch swing listening to a red hen caw happily, scratching
for bugs by the barn.
    Biscuit lay by her feet, waiting for the boys
to come back. He shot up and sniffed the air. His body tensed as he
stared toward the barn.
    “What do you see?” Hal looked across the
driveway. “Quiet down! Nothing over there but a hen scratching in
the dirt.”
    A growl rumbled deep in Biscuit's throat. The
hair stood up on the back of his neck as he edged stiffed legged
down the porch steps. Suddenly, he raced toward the hen.
    Hal called, “Come back here. Don't chase my …
.” She stopped when she saw the black animal with a white stripe,
sneaking up on the hen. Hal looked around frantically. “Help!”
    Both boys carried a scrap piece of plywood.
Hal waved. “Noah and Daniel, come quick. Hurry! Biscuit is after
the skunk.”
    Footsteps thudded on the floor inside the
house. Jim looked over John's shoulder at the door. “What did you
just say?”
    Hal pointed a trembling finger toward the
barn. “The skunk is trying to catch a hen. Biscuit is going to
fight him.”
    “I will get the rifle,” he said.
    Everything after that happened so quickly.
The dog ran at the skunk with a vicious snarl. The hen flew out of
the way, squawking an alarm to the other chickens. The skunk jumped
sideways to avoid Biscuit and scrambled toward the