Chapter 11: My Father’s Laugh
Noah woke Kaybri, who was asleep in her office and put a note in her hand. It took a minute for her eyes to focus.
Your father wants to see you. And bring the girl vet. Love, Mom
“From your mother? So quickly?”
Noah nodded. “She’s efficient.”
“Well, I guess you’re going to get your questions answered. How did she send the note?”
“Amos Epps.”
“Who is that?”
“He’s a Mennonite who delivers to the clinic the dogs my dad and other farmers are no longer able to breed. The note was in an envelope attached to the side of a box that arrived this morning with another dog. A beagle.”
“Damaged?” Kaybri asked.
“Consistent with the others.”
“Amos Epps. He’s a Mennonite? Is that a different flavor of Amish?”
“It’s a different sect. They came from Switzerland. The Amish came from Germany. Unlike the Amish, Mennonites manage cash, drive cars, and often act as conduits between the plain folk and the outside world.”
“Thanks for the lesson. Are we going to see your father?”
“Can we take your truck?”
“Of course. But I want to check on the new dog first.”
“Of course. And Frank is coming over to cover for you in an hour.” Looking into Kaybri’s eyes, he gently pushed her head back to the arm of the couch. “He wants to take some of the pressure off of you today.”
“I’ll take it,” Kaybri said dreamily as she closed her eyes.
Noah smiled and kissed her on the forehead. His kiss felt like the sweetest medicine she’d ever taken.
When they arrived at the farm, Kaybri had the chance to finally see it in the daytime. The acres and acres of corn rippled like a beautiful golden fringe on the soft landscape. Thomas Stoltzfus greeted them outside the main house. He was shorter than Noah, but his graying beard was partly red, like Noah’s.
They got out of the truck. Noah and his father stared at each other awkwardly, neither of them smiling. Kaybri was about to introduce herself, but Noah interrupted her.
“Father, this is Kaybri Lynn. She’s the new vet. She bought Dr. Stevens’s practice.”
“I know. Welcome to our farm, Dr. Lynn. I know you have been here before. But this time, you were actually invited.” He chuckled. She did not.
“Doctor Lynn,” he continued. “I can imagine the distaste you have for me and what you know is going on in that barn.” He pointed to the huge barn on the other side of the house.
“You should stop abusing dogs. It’s that simple,” Kaybri said sternly, her gaze never leaving Mr. Stoltzfus.
She could tell he wasn’t used to being talked to like this, especially by a woman, and was surprised at how well he was taking it. He took a deep breath and shuffled his feet in the dirt in the same way she had seen Noah do when he was frustrated or distressed.
“I’m sorry," Kaybri quickly interjected. " This is your home, and I am your guest. I shouldn’t speak to you in this way.”
“No apology is necessary.” He nodded and gestured for them to follow him. He led them into the house to the large sun-drenched kitchen. As he walked, Kaybri noticed a slight limp.
“Are you hungry? You both had quite a busy night,” Mr. Stoltzfus said calmly.
“I can hardly wait to talk about it,” Noah said.
“In good time,” his father replied, as he began toasting bread and frying eggs over the wood-burning stove.
“What was that thing that ended up under my boot?” he asked cheerfully. “It made a good crunching sound.”
“It’s a…machine…that moves on its own…using electricity. It takes pictures of things in the dark,” Noah explained.
Mr. Stoltzfus laughed. “I can hear you struggling to explain it in terms I can understand. What you’re trying to say is that I crushed a self-propelled track-driven robot that has an infrared camera for recording images in the dark.”
Noah seemed dumbfounded. His father slapped him on the back and continued to laugh uproariously. “Your mother explained it to me. The woman reads something called Popular Mechanics. There’s a whole stack of them in the bottom of the blanket chest in our bedroom.”
Kaybri had not expected Noah’s father to be so jocular. She had pictured a dour man who worked outdoors all the time and never smiled. Not a jolly man scrambling eggs.
“I never…” Noah began.
“Of course, you didn’t. Your brothers and sisters don’t know either. What does something like that robot thing cost?”
“Well, Kaybri ordered it…”
“About eight hundred dollars,” Kaybri chimed in.
Noah, finally lightening up, added, “But my father’s boot has brought its market value down a bit.”
The three of them laughed. Kaybri found herself wishing she didn’t have to hate this man, especially since he looked so much like Noah.
Mr. Stoltzfus served the food on plain white plates. Kaybri wasn’t hungry, but the men stuffed their faces greedily for several minutes before Noah got to what Kaybri knew was foremost on his mind. “When did you start keeping guard dogs? It’s not your way.”
“How is Clarence? You took him with you.”
“You gave them names?” Noah asked.
“I didn’t. One of your nieces did. The other one is Angel. She saw those names in a coloring book when she was in town. He rolled his eyes “Let’s get serious. What were you up to last night?”
Mr. Stoltzfus listened intently as Noah explained the events that led to their night visit and then the procedure Kaybri had performed on Clarence.”
“Will he survive?”
“His chances for recovery are good but not assured,” Kaybri said.
“Sounds like you have a gift,” Mr. Stoltzfus said, nodding at Kaybri. “Maybe if your mother and I had sought out doctors as talented as you, there would have been twelve Stoltzfus children in this generation. Noah lost two brothers and a sister who might have been saved.”
“What are you saying?” Noah asked.
“I’m saying that sometimes our ways need to be reexamined.”
“I don’t see how what you’re saying explains the guard dogs.”
“It doesn’t. The guard dogs are for our protection.”
“What’s happened?”
“There were times when you were growing up when intruders came to the farm at night because they didn’t like the way we conducted our business.”
“You mean the puppy mills. Let’s please call the operation by its correct name,” Noah said. Kaybri nodded in approval. So, Noah really could stand up to his father.
Mr. Stoltzfus raised his hand to finish. “We will return to that subject. You’ll need to indulge me for a moment. These people either stole some of the puppies or tried to release the breeding dogs from their pens. They believed that their success was due to their stealth. It wasn’t. I didn’t want to confront them. A few puppies lost wasn’t important in comparison to someone getting hurt.”
“It made you angry enough to get guard dogs?” Noah asked.
“No." Mr. Stoltzfus shook his head. "Your time in the outside world has made you impatient.”
“I’m sorry.”
“The people who steal puppies have changed. Now we get death threats. Your mother and I as well as your brother and sisters. I’m afraid to have the grandchildren visit.”
“You said I have a niece.”
“Yes, and seven more nephews and nieces.”
“I haven’t met any of them.”
“Your decision to leave has consequences. You may have expected some, but others you didn’t foresee.” Mr. Stoltzfus let his head droop. “Just like I didn’t see what these people were capable of doing.”
He got up abruptly and started clearing the table and then washing the plates. Kaybri sensed he wanted to not be looking at them while he talked. “About a year ago, they set fire to the barn. We were able to put it out, but Eva, your brother Henry’s youngest, left the house when she heard the commotion. She raced into the barn hoping to save a few animals. We didn’t see her until it was too late. A burning section of the roof collapsed on top of her. Eva’s face was severely burned. She was only twelve years old.”
“How awful!” Kaybri exclaimed.
“I’m sorry,” Noah said. “So you got the dogs to keep the activists away.”
“What choice did I have?” For the first time that morning, Kaybri sensed some anger in Noah’s father. “What kind of people believe you can take away a man’s livelihood and kill his children and grandchildren?”
“I don’t think those people would describe what they’re doing in that way. They believe their actions are justified,” Kaybri said.
“I know. Noah’s mother explained their motivations.”
“So, why am I here?” Noah asked.
“I wanted to see how your hand is. I also want to start a new conversation between us. I want to talk about changing how we do things around here with the dogs. I want your input. And I want to learn more about genetics.”
Noah literally fell off his chair, or at least slipped part of the way off. Kaybri quickly reached out and steadied him.
“Who are you?” Noah asked his father. “For years, you simply produced what the pet stores wanted. Now you want to know about the genetics of breeding?”
“It’s actually your mother who wants me to understand genetics.” He put his hand over his chest and patted it.
Kaybri could tell there was something else on his mind. “What is it, Mr. Stoltzfus? What’s bothering you?”
He responded directly to Kaybri. “Noah’s mother pointed out that the Stoltzfus men tend to die young by modern standards. My father died at sixty-two. His father died at fifty-eight.”
“The age of parental death is only one indicator of how long you will live,” Kaybri responded.
“Sure, but...” He turned to Noah. “It’s why I want you to take over the farm, my son.”
This time, Noah clutched the table so he wouldn’t fall.
“I went to see Dr. Beiler two months ago.”
“The Amish doctor who did so little for my two brothers and sister when they fell ill?” Noah said with a little disdain in his voice.
“He’s a good man,” Mr. Stoltzfus said testily.
An unpleasant silence hung between the two men for a few minutes. “He couldn’t save them. I know he did his best,” Mr. Stoltzfus said.
“So, what’s changed?”
“What you told me Dr. Lynn did for Clarence is the final piece of evidence I need. There’s not a farmer I know who wouldn’t have put Clarence down if he had those injuries. She saved him.”
Kaybri felt herself blush. “The outcome wasn’t certain when I started operating. I took some risks because the dog’s condition was dire. If extraordinary actions weren’t taken, Clarence would have died or had a lower quality of life.”
“She was amazing last night,” Noah said. Then he asked his father, “What did Beiler tell you?”
“He says I have a problem with my heart. He suggested I change my diet and take some herbs he thinks will help.”
“I don’t think herbs will fix a damaged heart,” Noah said.
“Maybe, maybe not. Nevertheless, he can hear the problem when he listens to my chest. It sounds, he says, like the noise milk makes when it’s squeezed from a cow’s teet.”
Noah gave a snort of a laugh. “I’m sorry, father. I know this is serious. But that’s quite an image.”
Mr. Stoltzfus smiled. “Your mother suggested I see a doctor who isn’t Amish.”
“Would you do that?”
“Beiler says the sound is the same one he heard in my father’s chest. He also retrieved his own father’s notes. They indicate that my grandfather had a similar heart condition. Hence, my interest in genetics.”
“This is a lot to take in, father.”
“I’m hoping you’ll come to dinner Sunday night. You, Dr. Lynn, and the Stevenses. We have much to discuss, and a lot of time to make up for.”