Title: Ovan Akta 
Authors: Girlie_girl7 and FoxfireX
Date: 01-02-03
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: They belong to Fox 
Em: FoxfireX_00@yahoo.com, Girlie_girl74@yahoo.com 
Category: XF, MSR
Spoilers: Rain King, HTGSC 
Archive: anywhere.
Summary: Mulder and Scully go undercover in Amish 
country to investigate flying cows.
                



                   Ovan Akta (Unusual Gift) 





Friday July 19, 2002 Outside Honeyville, Indiana 


Federal Forestry Agent Joe Warren enjoyed his job. He'd been traveling
through Northeastern Indiana's Amish communities, informing groups of
farmers on the perils of the dreaded Asian Beetle. The voracious bug
had infested trees in northern Illinois the previous summer and was
moving east in a hurry. The Federal Government, for once attempting to
head off a problem and not just react to the fallout, finally got
smart and sent their agents out to talk to tree nurseries,
communities, and farmers. Joe was assigned to work with the Amish.
 
He had been holding meetings twice a day up 
and down the countryside using the big white 
barns as gathering halls. His last meeting of  
the day took place in the barn of Jacob Yoder. As 
they dismissed, Joe paused in front of the 
structure, wiping the sweat from his forehead 
with his handkerchief. It was the time of year 
that the heat rolled through that part of the 
country settling in and bringing with it 
stifling humidity.  
 
Joe was amazed how the Amish could function with 
no air conditioning, without electricity. They 
didn't even have fans. He was of the opinion that 
they were just plain nuts. How they chose to live 
their lives was their business but he couldn't 
wait to grab a bite and head back to the air 
conditioned, shower providing, HBO offering motel 
room he'd been staying in all week.  
 
-- Leah Beechy was setting the table for dinner. 
Her husband Matthew would be home soon. He'd gone 
to the next farm over to hear a man speak about 
insects that could harm their trees. Her two 
older sons were working in the field while her 
daughters tended the family garden. Gardening was 
usually a job that Leah took care of herself, but 
being nearly nine months pregnant, she had 
decided to turn that chore over to her daughters.  
That left her youngest child, Obadiah. If she had 
a favorite child it would be Obadiah. He was 
considered slow, with the innocence of a younger 
child and a carefree spirit. Leah knew he would 
be by her side until the Lord called her home. 
The solid oak dining table was covered in a fine 
white lace cloth that she removed with care. The 
fragile cloth had been her mother's and her 
grandmother's before her. Grandma Carper had 
tatted the lace herself, a skill that Leah had 
longed to learn but with children always under 
foot she never found the time. Now with another 
baby on the way it looked like the tatting would 
once again have to wait. 
 
-- 
 
Joe Warren had just finished up his second plate 
of chicken and noodles at Fern's Diner. He had to 
admit these people knew how to cook. He stood 
outside the diner letting his belt out by one 
notch and watching the sun slowly setting. He tossed 
his jacket into the back of the rental car and 
crawled in the front seat starting the engine.  
He opened all the vents and cranked up the air 
and was soon on his way back to his motel room. 
He passed a neatly kept farm filled with 
barefooted Amish children playing. The little 
girls had their hair up in pigtails or rolled up 
tightly in a bun, their brightly colored dresses 
swirled around them as they played. The boys both 
had a chili bowl haircut, blunt cut across the 
front and short on the sides and back, they were 
clad in pale colored shirts with blue cotton 
trousers held up by thin suspenders. 
 
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse 
of something in the nearby field. He turned his 
head to see a cow hovering a few feet above the 
ground. He hit the brakes and watched as the cow 
slowly floated back to earth. He sat in the car 
a second, not fully believing what he'd seen, 
maybe it was the combination of the heat and that 
second plate of Fern's noodles. Suddenly another  
cow lifted a few feet off the ground. The 
helpless animal let out a confused moo. Joe grabbed 
the door handle and was out of the car in a flash 
as the cow he was watching settled back down to 
the ground. He stood by the barbed wire fence in 
the dimming light. The small herd remained 
grounded. Just as he was about to head back to 
the car, cows start popping up and down like 
horses on a carousel. 
 
Leah Beechy was just pulling the chicken out of 
the warming oven when she heard a low mooing 
drifting in her kitchen window. She pushed the  
chicken back into the oven and went to see what 
was the problem. In the slowly dimming light she 
could see a calf straddling her buggy garage. She 
immediately knew what was afoot and who was to 
blame. "Obadiah!" She called. 
 
Out from behind her bridal wreath bush crept a 
small barefoot boy. "Yeah, Momma?"  
 
"Obadiah, I thought we agreed, no more messing 
with the cows."  
 
The boy grew pensive and looked down at his feet 
muttering, "Okay Momma, but don't get mad at me." 
 
"I'm not mad at you son, just put the cow back 
and come in and get ready for supper." 
She softly smiled at him. 
Obadiah ran up the porch steps and started in the 
house just as his mother took his arm. "Obadiah, 
the cow." 
 
The dirty-faced boy grinned at his mother. "Oh 
yeah, I forgot." Leah watched as the cow slowly 
descended to the ground and scampered off no 
worse for wear. 
 
Joe Warren quickly climbed the fence, racing 
toward the herd, he stood mesmerized by the 
sight before him. Cows were rising and falling 
all around him. Unfortunately he was unaware of 
the 900 pound Holstein hovering just above 
him until it was too late. The cow came crashing 
down upon the unsuspecting man. Joe Warren had 
eaten his last plate of Fern's noodles.  
 


Part 1 Thursday August 1 
Basement Office Hoover Building 
 
Agent Dana Scully entered the office to find 
her partner Fox Mulder already there. She went to 
get the coffee, since it was her turn.  She sat 
his cup in front of him, finding room next to his 
big foot that was propped on the top of his desk. 
He opened the top and took a deep drink. Wisely, 
he waited until she had almost finished her cup 
before he spoke. 
 
"Scully what do you know about the Amish?"  
 
She stood to toss her empty cup in the trash and 
rounded Mulder's desk, perching on the corner. 
 
"Well they are similar to the Kindred. They shun 
modern conveniences, they put great faith in 
their religion, their family and their community. 
Why?" 
 
"Have you ever wondered what it would be like to 
live like that?" 
 
"Oh no, Mulder! I am not going undercover as an 
Amish." 
 
Mulder got up and moved around the desk, placing 
his hands on Scully's arms. He nuzzled her neck 
and softly said, "Not even for me, Scully?" 
 
"Mulderrr..you're not playing fair. Stop kissing 
me." 
 
"Not even for your partner, your best friend, 
your love slave? I would have gone undercover as 
a troll for you." She smiled as his dark hair 
brushed the underside of her chin.  
 
Scully lifted her chin to allow Mulder greater 
access to her neck. "Okay Mulder, what will have 
us posing as Amish?" 
 
"Flying cows." 
 
"I beg your pardon." She pulled back to look at 
him, he straightened up and began gesturing with 
his hands. He was excited and it had nothing to 
do with being her love slave at the moment. 
 
"Flying cows Scaly, bovine aviation. I have a 
whole file full of flying cow sightings." 
 
"And how is this an Amish problem?" 
 
"Because the sightings only occur in or near 
Amish communities." 
 
Mulder points to a map of the U.S., 
"Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Texas." 
 
"Texas? Mulder." 
 
"The lone star state can't have Amish?" 
 
"So why is the FBI getting involved?" 
 
"Because this time a Federal Forestry Agent has 
been killed by a flying cow." He was fairly 
hopping in place, bouncing on the balls of his 
feet. 
 
"Oh, just the break you've been waiting for. 
Mulder isn't it just possible the cow just fell 
over on the agent?" 
 
"You mean like cow tipping? Sure Scully, drunk 
Amish boys go out and tip over cows on 
unsuspecting Federal Forestry Agents."  
 
"Well, it's as plausible as flying cows. You're 
serious about this aren't you?" 
 
"Scully, a federal crime has been committed. It 
is our sworn duty as investigators, to well. . . 
investigate." 
 
Scully looked up at Mulder with a solemn 
expression and said, "Mulder, you are so full of 
shit. So how do you purpose we infiltrate the 
Amish?"  
 
"I have it all worked out. We spend a few days in 
the library and on the net doing research on the 
Amish, then we fly to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, 
buy some Amish garb. . . " 
 
"Amish garb?" 
 
"Change our appearance, catch the bus headed west 
and get off in Shipshewana, Indiana." 
 
"Shipshe..." 
 
"Wana. Shipshewana. The location of the agent's 
death." 
 
"Hmm, sounds like you've spent a lot of time 
working on this." 
 
"You were at your mom's last weekend, I had some 
free time on my hands." He smiled sheepishly at 
her. She hated it when he spent his time off 
working. She was convinced he was going to end up 
with an ulcer or infarct or something. He usually 
didn't admit he spent his empty time without her 
working on a case. 
 
"You were supposed to be relaxing, Mulder, not 
working." She smiled at him, shaking her head. 
 
"Work is relaxing." 
 
"Flying cows are relaxing?" She snorted at him.  
 
"Not just any flying cows, Scully, Amish flying 
cows." Proverbial kid in a candy store she 
thought. Her expression softened. 
 
"Okay, give me a day or two to look this over." 
 
"Deal!" Mulder smiled. "Besides I need to find us 
a place to stay." 
 
"Oh and Mulder, if you tell them we met at a UFO 
convention, I will be catching the next bus out 
of flying Amish cow town."  
 

Sunday August 4 Fox Mulder's apartment 
 
Files littered the coffee table in front of the 
sofa. Mulder sat looking them over, his hands 
resting loosely on his knees. He cocked his head 
to the side, then called, "Come on in, Scully." 
 
She opened the door. "I hate it when you do 
that." 
 
He grinned at her, "So stop wearing those four 
inch heels, I hear you coming as soon as you get 
off the elevator. 
 
"So, what's up Mulder?" She crossed the room and 
sat next to him, kicking her heels off and 
tucking her feet under her thigh. 
 
Waving a paper in the air, Mulder said, "Our 
ticket to cow town." 
 
"Is that your personal invitation from Elsie the 
cow?" 
 
"No. Listen to this. 'Mr. Mulder, I received your 
wire and we would gladly welcome you and your 
wife to our home. Since the sudden death of my 
dear wife's parents we have the older side of the 
house available. I was saddened by your story and 
am willing to let you and your wife live here 
until you get back on your feet provided you help 
on the farm and your wife helps my Leah, who is 
carrying our 6th child. We will pick you up at 
the bus stop on August 6. God bless, Matthew 
Beechy.'" 
 
Scully closed her eyes and rubbed her right 
temple. "Mulder, what have you gotten me into 
and how did you find this man?" 
 
"The Budget."  
 
"The Budget?" 
 
"Yeah it's kind of like the USA Today for Amish. 
It's their national newspaper. Didn't you know I 
subscribed to The Budget? The sports page sucks 
but the classifieds are interesting. I found an 
ad looking for a renter of a double house." He 
jumped up from the sofa to pace in front of the 
coffee table. 
 
A double house?" She couldn't help herself from 
repeating the foreign things she was saying, and 
it was irritating even her. 
 
"Scully, didn't you do your homework? That's two 
houses built side by side that share a common 
washing room." 
 
"The purpose being....?" 
 
"I'm glad you asked that. The elderly parents 
live in one side of the house while the married 
son or daughter live in the other side with 
their children. I'm sure it's a lot cheaper than 
nursing home care." 
 
"And a whole lot better for the parents. So just 
what was this sob story that got us this warm 
invitation?" 
 
"I told them we lost our shop to an unscrupulous 
land developer and you nearly had a nervous 
breakdown over it." 
 
"Mulder, a nervous breakdown? Why do I let you 
come up with our cover? I never learn." She 
dropped her head in her hands. 
 
"Yeah, well, all you have to do is twitch once in 
a while, and we're gold." He stopped his pacing, 
and sat on the coffee table in front of her, 
pulling her hands away from her face and rubbing 
her arms. 
 
"I'll twitch all right, G-man, but you're not 
going to like what I twitch." 
 
"Anyway, we leave for Harrisburg tomorrow. So you 
want to come into the bedroom where we can 
practice playing house?" 
 
"Lead the way, G-man. I'm in the mood for some 
twitching." -- 
 
Monday morning, August 5 Flight 625 
 
 They sat on the plane going over the case during 
their flight, files open before them. They were 
studying not only the route of Agent Warren, but 
giving their Amish hosts a final perusal as well. 
 
"Mulder, did you forget to shave?" 
 
"No Scully. Once an Amish man marries he must 
stop shaving." 
 
"That's right, and I have to wear a white 
bonnet." 
 
"Ahhh you have been doing your homework." 
Mulder's brow furrowed. "Hmm, one problem, 
though..." 
 
"What?" 
 
He gathered the strands of her hair resting on 
her collar, "Amish women don't cut their hair, 
and yours is too short. Can you pull it up or 
something so it looks longer?" 
 
"This is all the hair I have!" Scully sighed, 
"Okay I'll see what I can do. I have been reading 
about the Amish lifestyle and it's fascinating, 
but for us to carry this off we will need 
aliases'. I don't think Fox Mulder and Dana 
Scully will fit in." 
 
"Mulder." 
 
"What?" 
 
"Dana Mulder, we're married now." He waggled his 
eyebrows at her. 
 
"Well just the same I think we need to pick 
Biblical first names." She had spent so many 
years deflecting his innuendo, it was second 
nature to keep the conversation on track. 
 
"Alright, just call me Jesus." 
 
"Not that Biblical, Mulder!" 
 
"How about Sampson and Delilah?" 
 
"Mulder, have you ever even read the Bible?" She 
looked at him skeptically. 
 
"Just the good parts." 
 
"What did you tell Mr. Beechy your name was?" 
 
"Just Mr. Mulder. The Falls taught me an 
important lesson; thou shalt not name thy 
undercover selves without thine partner's two 
cents." 
 
"Smart move. Mulder does sound like it might be 
an Amish name. I've got it, Noah." 
 
"And you can be Patsy." He announced, with a smug 
satisfaction in his voice. 
 
"Would you please point out where one can find 
the name 'Patsy' in the bible?" Scully folded her 
arms across her chest, narrowing her gaze at him. 
 
"Well, I think you look like a Patsy." 
 
"I can be Hannah, I always liked that name. " 
 
"I could get use to calling you that." 
 
"Hannah?" 
 
"No. Mrs. Mulder." She had to admit the man 
brought out the soft touch in her. She blushed 
slightly at his adoring gaze and looked back down 
at the book she has been reading on the Amish. 
 
"Mulder, how much of this book have you read?" 
 
"I don't know. Why?" 
 
"It says here the men never wear pants with 
zippers." 
 
"Scully, won't that be a little drafty?" He 
looked concerned. 
 
"No big boy, they use snaps, buttons, or hook and 
eyes." 
 
"That hook and eye thing sounds painful." His 
look was shifting from concerned to low level 
panic. 
 
"I guess that's the sacrifice you make to be an 
Amish." 
 
-- La Quinta Inn Harrisburg PA 
 
Mulder hung up the phone after calling a cab to 
take them on their shopping excursion. "Ok, are 
you ready for this?" 
 
"As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." They walked 
to the curb, Mulder's hand on the small of her 
back to guide her into the cab. 
 
Mulder had requested a driver with good knowledge 
of the Amish shops in the area and he wasn't 
disappointed. The cabbie bypassed the tourist 
shops, where the parking lots were packed with 
out of state plates on vacationing mini vans. 
Instead he drove to the edge of town, where 
traffic and buildings were thinner. Here he 
directed the Agents to an authentic Amish shop. 
 
Mulder paid the driver, actually tipping this 
time, and they walked over to the wooden front porch 
of the shop. Mulder sat on a bench, Scully 
joining him with a quizzical look on her face. 
 
"Research continues. By observing the locals, 
maybe we can get a better idea of what we need. 
 
"Good idea." She sat next to him, lacing her 
fingers through his and together they simply 
watched the customers come and go for almost half 
an hour. They drew a few strange looks, being the 
only 'English' people in the vicinity, but all in 
all they were left alone. 
 
Deciding that they had a handle on the needed 
attire, they entered the shop. Mulder pointed 
toward the 'men's' side, with small implements, 
sacks of seed and grain and small racks of work 
clothes. Scully, with an eyebrow implanted firmly 
at her hairline, headed for the feminine section 
of the store. 'Her' side was laden with bolts of 
cloth, racks of thread both for sewing and 
knitting and kitchen staples. Near the back sat a 
small rack of somber dresses, and one shelf of 
bonnets, undergarments and aprons. 
 
Mulder rummaged through the sparse offerings and 
made his way to the register with four pairs of 
zipperless cotton trousers along with half a 
dozen plain cotton work shirts, undershirts, and 
briefs. He picked out a heavy pair of work boots 
and cotton socks to go with them. For the sake of 
decency he bought a bathrobe and pajamas. Next 
came a work coat and two pairs of suspenders and 
last but not least a straw hat to top it all off.  
 
He sat again on the bench just outside, waiting 
for Scully. Finally she emerged from the store, 
her arms loaded down with packages.  
 
"Sorry that took so long, but they didn't have 
much to choose from and finding something that 
fit was difficult. Did you know Amish women 
make all their own clothing, except for under 
clothes." 
 
"It's good you aren't Amish Scully, because you 
would be the first nudist in the congregation." 
 
"You don't think I could make my own clothing? I 
can sew." 
 
"Scully sewing up a 'Y' incision and occasionally 
your partner is not my idea of fine stitching." 


Tuesday Morning, August 6 
 
The bus was due to leave Harrisburg at 9:00 a.m. 
They still paid for two rooms when they traveled, 
but seldom used more than one. Mulder was up and 
showering when Scully awoke, so she made use of 
the shower in the connecting room. The night 
before they packed all the new clothing they had 
bought into the empty suitcases, save for what 
they needed to wear on the trip.  
 
Scully finished her shower and began to dress. 
The transformation she saw in the mirror stunned 
her. She shook her head as she turned this way 
and that, examining her new look. She couldn't 
wait to see what Mulder looked like.  
 
She grabbed her pajamas and headed back to the 
room they slept in, nearly running over Mulder 
who was coming through the door. They both jumped 
back with a start.  
 
He stood before Scully, beautifully tall and 
shortly bearded. His blue cotton shirt stretched 
across his shoulders, the suspenders running the 
outline of his pectoral muscles. The simple dark 
blue trousers hugged his lean thighs just enough 
to hint at their shape. His smile was brilliant, 
causing his eyes to sparkle down at her. The new 
growth of beard strangely did not make him appear 
unkempt. He just looked mysterious, possibly 
dangerous, and definitely sexy. 
 
Mulder couldn't help but smile down at the tiny 
woman before him. Her homespun lavender cotton 
dress tied in back and fell just below her knees. 
The sleeves came down to the fine bones in her 
wrists. The simple garment actually did more for 
her figure than the dark two piece suits she 
wore to work. She wore no makeup allowing the 
freckles across her nose to stand out against the 
pale skin on her face. Her hair was pulled back 
and pinned up, accenting the shape of her 
cheekbones. She wore flat black leather shoes 
that caused Mulder to tower over her even more 
than usual. She stunned him with her beautiful 
simplicity. 
 
"Mulder, you look like you belong on a farm." 
Scully grinned up at him. 
 
"And you look like you belong on my arm." Mulder 
replied as he offered her his arm and walked her 
back into their room. 
 
They finished gathering their things and packing 
in silence, each cast surreptitious glances at 
the other, both pleased with what they saw. When 
their packing was completed, Mulder put his straw 
hat on and pushed it down on his head. Scully 
took out the starched bonnet from the hatbox and 
sat it carefully on her head. She then took a 
small box of straight pins out of her purse. 
 
"Eww ouch, Scully what are you doing with those?" 
 
"The clerk showed me how to hold the bonnet on 
with these." 
 
"You're not pinning that to your head are you?" 
 
"Of course I am." Scully then turned to the 
mirror and began to weave the pin into the bonnet 
edge, gathering up a few strands of hair and 
pushing the pin back out the bonnet. She did this 
three more times and turned to smile at Mulder. 
Satisfied she hadn't drawn blood in the pinning 
process, he kissed her lightly on the nose and 
gathered up the suitcases while Scully carried 
the hatbox and the suitcase containing the laptop 
and case files. They trudged down to the bus 
stop. 
 
The bus bound for Shipshewana was half full and 
most of them were Amish. Mulder watched them 
carefully, studying their mannerisms and 
movements. Then he realized something, "Scully 
lean forward a little."  
 
"What for Mulder?" 
 
Mulder deftly unhooked the tiny cross from around 
Scully's neck and placed it in her palm. Scully 
closed her hand around it and looked at him 
questioningly.  
 
Mulder leaned over. "They never wear jewelry." 
 
Scully immediately placed the small cross in her 
purse. 
 
8pm 
 
Ten excruciating hours later the bus pulled into 
the parking lot of Yoder's department store in 
Shipshewana. Mulder stood up and stretched, 
unkinking his long frame, and listening to his 
back and knees pop. He leaned over and ran his 
knuckles over Scully's cheek. She had fallen 
asleep hours ago. Her eyes fluttered open as she 
gathered her bearings. 
 
"Come on, Hannah, we're here." Scully took a deep 
breath, and reached up to straighten her bonnet. 
 
"Sure, Noah." Mulder grinned as he helped her out 
of her seat.  They were the last ones off the 
bus. -- 
 
Mulder gathered their suitcases, while Scully 
looked around the nearly empty parking lot. Off 
to the left stood an Amish man tending to his 
horses. He glanced over to Scully as he tied the  
horses to the hitching post and noticing her 
clothing, he approached Scully cautiously. She 
saw he was little taller than herself, and solidly 
built. 
 
The man tipped his hat and asked, "Excuse me, 
ma'am, would you be Mrs. Mulder?" 
 
"Yes, yes, I am." Mulder came to stand at her 
side, setting the suitcases down. "This is my 
husband, Noah." 
 
The shorter man thrust out his hand. "I'm Matthew 
Beechy" 
 
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Beechy, and thank you for 
meeting us. It's been a long trip, and we 
appreciate the ride out to the farm." 
 
"My pleasure, why don't you two follow me." 
 
Matthew picked up Scully's hatbox and the small 
case she had been carrying and led them to the 
two-seater black buggy. The bags were tossed 
behind the second seat and Matthew climbed in the 
front. Mulder helped Scully into the second seat 
and climbed in after her. 
 
"Get up Pat, Star." Matthew Beechy gave the reins 
a snap, sending the buggy lurching forward. The 
horses soon fell into step next to one another as 
the buggy made its way down State Road 5. Cars, 
motorcycles, and even an occasional semi-tractor 
trailer whizzed by at a dizzying rate, but the 
horses never strayed from the path they were 
relegated to along the narrow highway. Mulder 
noticed Scully's white knuckled grip on the side 
of the buggy, and took her hands into his. She 
sighed and leaned against him, doing her best to 
ignore the heat. 
 
Mulder leaned forward and spoke to Matthew. "Have 
you lived here long, Mr. Beechy?" 
 
"All 45 years of my life, and they call me 
Matthew or just Beechy." 
 
Scully smiled to herself, not another one. 
 
"You like living here, Beechy?" 
 
"Good soil and plenty of fresh water, no reason 
not to live here." 
 
"What do you grow?" 
 
"I farm seven acres of wheat and five acres of 
beans, and I have 10 milk cows. It's time to 
begin bringing in the wheat. I can use your 
help." 
 
The rest of the ride was spent in silence. They 
passed softly rolling hills dotted with white 
homes and large barns. Occasionally they passed 
another buggy and a hand would appear from it and 
wave at Beechy with him acknowledging it. 
 
The buggy leaned to the right, pulling into what 
Mulder guessed was a long lane. The lack of an 
internal combustion engine and electrical system 
operated by a battery meant no headlights to  
pierce the darkness for him. Scully smiled and 
pointed down into the dark, in the direction of 
a yapping sound that could only be the family dog 
out to greet them. 
 
The hot and sticky ride lasted nearly 50 minutes, 
with Mulder calculating they had traveled about 7 
miles. He was sure all Scully wanted to do was 
take a shower but he doubted that would be 
possible. 
 
Beechy called a halt to his tired horses' efforts 
in front of a two-story house that had lamps 
burning in several of the windows. A side door 
flew open, and out bounded two dark figures, the  
lead holding a small lamp. As they neared, Mulder 
could tell they were teenage boys and each took 
one of the horses by the headstall and held them 
as the adults alighted from the buggy. A 
practiced team, they led the horses toward the 
barn, tossing a greeting over their shoulders for 
their father, and smiling openly at the 
newcomers. As the traveling companions stretched, 
a teenage girl stepped down from the porch, also 
carrying a lantern.  
 
"Welcome home, Poppa." The young girl smiled 
warmly. She let her smile slide to include Mulder 
and Scully, then turned to light their way into 
the house. Beechy and Mulder wrestled the cases 
and followed Scully and the young woman up the 
steps and inside. 
 
The kitchen was large and very neat. On the left 
side stood a large cream and green cook stove. 
There were oak cupboards running along either 
side of it. A sink with a hand pump stood next to 
the back door. On the right was an ice box, the 
kind that Mulder and Scully had only seen in old 
movies. The kitchen was painted white and filled 
with home canned produce.  The only window in it 
had no window dressing. 
 
"Leah." Beechy called out to his wife as he 
removed his hat. Into the kitchen waddled a very 
pregnant woman wearing a pink cotton dress with a 
white apron covering her large belly. Much to 
Scully's delight, her bonnet covered a head of 
red hair. The woman had a shy smile and Mr. 
Beechy stepped forward and took her hand. The 
room was soon filled with children.  
 
"This is my wife, Leah, and our daughters, 
Rebecca and Mary." He gestured to the two boys 
just returning from the barn, "This is David and 
Samuel." He then looked down and pulled a small 
boy out from behind his wife's skirt. "And this  
is Obadiah." 
 
The child grinned sheepishly up at Scully and 
said, "Momma, she's got hair just like yours!" 
The whole room erupted into laughter causing the 
boy to turn red. 
 
His mother placed her arm around his shoulder. 
"Yes, she does son." 
 
Mulder spoke up, "My name is Noah Mulder, but 
like Beechy here I'd rather just be called 
Mulder." The kids all giggled. Mulder took 
Scully by the hand and pulled her further into 
the light of the lantern. His eyes glowed with 
warmth as he looked down at the bonnet covered 
head, "This is my wife, Hannah." 
 
"Nice to meet you, Hannah," Leah said shyly. She 
seemed both embarrassed and pleased by Mulder's 
apparent fascination with his wife. 
 
"Nice to meet you and your family." Scully warmly 
smiled, but her exhaustion was causing her to 
lean on Mulder's arm. 
 
Leah spoke up, "Matthew these people are tired, 
show them to their home." Beechy smiled and 
gestured for them to follow him through the door 
leading from the kitchen. 
 
As they turned to follow, Scully realized for the 
first time that not only would she and Mulder 
actually be living as man and wife, she would be 
responsible for his clothes and meals. Not to 
mention keeping the house neat. A vision of  
Mulder and his dirty sock tossing habits flashed 
through her tired mind. Unlike the Falls, this 
time their relationship had advanced to the point 
of intimacy. Suddenly the dirty socks seemed 
small in comparison to the greater perks. She 
shook her head. She must be losing her mind. 
 
Beechy led them out the small door, which opened 
into a room that held a wringer washer and a 
large kettle hanging over a wood fired stove. The 
floor was cement and as clean as the kitchen. 
Shared wash room, Scully remembered Mulder 
telling her about that.  
 
Beechy opened another door that led into an 
almost exact copy of the kitchen they had just 
left. Mulder was reminded of the house they had 
spent Christmas Eve in with Maurice and Lyda. 
He glanced at Scully, her quirked eyebrow telling 
him she was thinking the same thing. 
 
Beechy continued on with the tour, leading them 
through the kitchen to the dining room and on 
through the living room and into a small study. 
He then backtracked to the dining room and began 
to climb a small staircase. He pointed out the 
bedrooms and then opened up a the bathroom door. 
The bathroom was large, with a huge claw-footed 
tub in the center, and a small sink on a 
pedestal against the wall.  
 
Demonstrating how to draw water up the pipes by 
using a hand pump, Beechy explained that if the 
reservoir on the wood stove was filled, a few 
gallons of hot water could be obtained by 
turning a tap. He then turned and pointed out the 
tiny window to a dark spot in the yard. Somewhere 
out there stood the outhouse. Flukemen danced 
through Scully's mind. Sometimes, it was 
difficult to find a situation where ghosts, 
goblins and or monsters didn't flit through her 
head. 
 
They all returned to what was soon to be Scully's 
kitchen. Mary had brought over two large pieces 
of chocolate cake and an ice-cold pitcher of 
milk. "Momma thought you might be hungry." 
 
Mulder and Scully thanked her and bid the Beechy 
contingent good night. He turned to Scully, 
pulling her close and letting her rock into his 
chest, supporting her weight.  "Well, Mrs. 
Mulder, you want to go to bed?" 
 
Scully pulled out of his embrace and took a seat 
at the table. "I don't know about you Mr. Mulder, 
but I'm having a piece of cake." 
 
Mulder joined Scully as they ate their cake and 
drank their milk by the light of the lantern. 
 
Scully spoke up first, "I'd like to stick close 
to Leah tomorrow. Maybe I can get the hang of 
this." 
 
"Good idea. I'll try to follow Beechy. It can't 
be that difficult to be a farmer." He said, as he 
took a large gulp of milk. 
 
"I don't know, Mulder. This is farming like they 
did it one hundred years ago. You won't have 
motorized equipment, and you'll be out in the 
heat all day." 
 
"Yes, Mother," he said with a smile. 
 
"Just be careful, that's all I'm saying." She 
took another bite of her cake. 
 
"I want to nose around and see what I can find 
out about the death of Agent Warren. It happened 
in the pasture of an Amish farmer, surely they've 
all discussed it, and maybe Beechy will have 
some idea of what's behind it." 
 
Scully pointed her fork at Mulder. 
 
"I saw a pile of old newspapers in the wash room, 
maybe they use them to start the fires. There 
might be one with a story on the agent's death 
in it. Maybe a local perspective from the press 
would be helpful, too." 
 
"Good idea, Scully." He finished off his cake. 
 
"It's Hannah, and I'm going to take a bath no 
matter how cold the water is. I have no idea how 
they sleep on nights this hot." She had finished 
her cake and started up the stairs. 
 
"I guess you just get used to it. I'm going to 
check out those papers." He called out to her as 
he headed back out to the washroom. 
 
Scully lit an oil lamp that hung from the ceiling 
and pumped about four inches of water into the 
huge tub. She gathered her bags and stripped off 
her clothing and slid into the slowly warming 
water. She leaned against the cold granite of the 
tub and slowly poured handfuls of water over her 
sweaty body. She closed her eyes, enjoying the 
sensation when the door flew open. "Shit! Mulder 
you scared me!"  
 
"Scully, is that any way for an Amish woman to 
talk? What are you doing?" He closed the door 
behind him, his eyes darkening as he took in her 
wet and naked form. 
 
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm taking a 
bath." 
 
"I can see that, is there room for two?" 
Without waiting for an answer Mulder began 
stripping off his clothes. Scully was amazed at 
the energy this man could display at that hour of 
the night and in the heat. Tossing aside his 
socks Mulder nudged Scully forward and slid in 
behind her. He leaned over and spoke into her 
ear. "In my own defense, Scully, this water is 
cold." 
 
Scully laughed and laid her head back against his 
chest. Mulder leaned up and kissed the back of 
her neck. Her laugh deepened into that sexy 
chuckle he loved to hear. "That beard tickles." 
 
Mulder stopped his nibbling and leaned over the 
edge of the tub to retrieve a newspaper he had 
dropped there in his haste to get naked. 
 
"You were right Scully, here's the newspaper 
article on the death of Agent Warren." He held 
the paper in one hand and reached around Scully 
to thump it with the other.  
 
"According to the paper, Warren was killed not 
far from here. He had been last seen earlier in 
the evening at a local place called Fern's Diner. 
There were no witnesses to the accident and he 
was found around 10:30 p.m. by a passing delivery 
van driver. The driver said and I quote, 'he was 
squashed like a bug under that cow'. The coroner 
reported he died of massive internal injuries 
consistent with being squashed like a bug." 
 
"Charming. So was that his medical opinion?" 
Scully looked up at Mulder questioningly. 
 
"Well, as close as he could come. He's a butcher 
by day and county coroner by night." 
 
"He better keep his day job," Scully deadpanned. 
 
"I think I'm going to take a look at the scene 
tomorrow. Are you falling asleep on me? Because 
if you are, I've got a major cramp going on 
here." 
 
"I knew it was too good to be true." Scully 
sighed as she crawled out of the tub and began 
to towel off. Mulder followed her. 
 
In the master bedroom Scully pulled on a pair of 
cotton panties and a long cream colored 
nightgown. The heat was stifling and her hair 
was kinking up in the heavy humidity. Mulder 
pulled a pair of cotton briefs from the suitcase 
and slipped into them. He sat on the edge of the 
full size bed. 
 
"Scully, why is it so hot!" 
 
"Mulder, we're in the Midwest, in mid summer, in 
an Amish house with NO electricity and you have 
to ask me why it is so hot?" 
 
"I'm sorry I asked," Mulder mumbled. 
 
She pulled back the large handmade quilt and top 
sheet that covered the bed and dropped onto the 
bed on her back. Mulder soon followed. He moved 
over to wrap his arms around her. 
 
"Mulder, I love you more than my own life, but if 
you touch me tonight, so help me I will shoot you 
again." 
 
Able to take a hint, Mulder never said a word but 
crept back to his side of the bed. 

 

Part II Wednesday, August 7 
 
Neither agent slept much and both were up by 5 
a.m. Scully had just dozed off when a rooster 
crowing made her nearly jump out of the bed. 
 
Mulder slipped on his trousers and tee shirt and 
made his way to the outhouse. At least they 
didn't have to share one with the Beechy family. 
As he was heading out the outhouse door he passed 
Scully going in. He knew better than to speak to 
her in the morning before she'd had her first hit 
of caffeine. She had her robe wrapped around 
herself and a bad case of bed head going on but 
he wasn't telling her that. 
 
Mulder went back upstairs, dressed properly and 
finished by brushing his teeth and combing his 
hair. He checked out his furry face in the 
mirror. One nice thing about being undercover as 
an Amish was he didn't have to shave. One bad 
thing was that at this length his beard caused 
his face to itch like hell. 
 
He wandered around the house trying to get a feel 
for these simple people. It soon became evident 
that all the books they had read were true. There 
were no mirrors in the house and no photos or 
pictures of people, only landscapes and animals. 
 
The house reflected the modest lifestyle they had 
chosen to live. Scully came in to find Mulder 
scratching his bearded chin, the things he would 
endured for an investigation. She went upstairs 
and quickly dressed. Mulder met her on the steps 
as she was coming down. "Scul... Hannah, Leah 
wants to know if we would like to eat breakfast 
with them?" 
 
Scully quickly walked around him, "Mulder, any 
meal I don't have to cook is a favorite of mine." 
He chuckled at her as she headed for the 
connecting wash room door. 
 
They entered Leah's kitchen to find the table 
surrounded by hungry children eager to eat. 
Mulder thanked Leah and pulled out a chair for 
Scully. Mr. Beechy led the group in a prayer and 
the food was passed around. Mulder had whole-
wheat toast, hamburger gravy, orange juice, fresh 
brewed tea and homemade cereal that resembled 
Grapenuts. Scully had her coffee first and then 
dug into the best breakfast she had ever eaten. 
 
Leah spoke up. "Did you sleep well Hannah?" 
 
She put down her cup of coffee and rubbed her 
hands on her lap. "It was fine except for the 
heat." 
 
Leah and the children looked at her in silence. 
Scully had the feeling she had just said 
something wrong but she wasn't sure what. 
 
Leah snapped. "Beechy didn't you tell these good 
folks about the bedroom in the basement?" 
 
"Bedroom." Mulder gulped. 
 
"In the basement." Scully sighed. 
 
"Sorry, Leah, it completely slipped my mind." 
 
"Oh, my! You two must have had a terrible night 
in all that heat! Hannah, after breakfast Mary 
will show you the bedroom downstairs. We all 
sleep in the basement in weather this hot." 
 
"Really," Scully spoke up trying to save Mr. 
Beechy's hide, "It was not that bad." 
 
After the meal was over, Mulder followed Beechy 
and the boys out to the porch. Scully called him 
back in, he had forgotten his hat. He took it 
from her and kissed her lightly on the cheek and 
crossed the yard again to jump on the wagon with 
the boys. Scully waved to him from the porch 
as he set off on his first day of work.  
 
-- 
 
Scully went back into the house feeling a little 
lost. She wasn't sure what to do next.  
 
Mary and Rebecca were both off to work at the 
noodle shop. The extra money helped out the large 
family. Mary would bring lunch to her father and 
brothers and Mulder, saving Leah the hard work of 
making a noon meal for the men.  
 
Scully helped gather up the breakfast dishes and 
was soon up to her elbows in homemade soapsuds. 
Leah was drying and softly humming to herself. 
Obadiah was lingering near by.  
 
"Obadiah." His mother called out. 
 
"Yeah, Momma?" 
 
"Why don't you take Buster and go down to check 
on the calves." 
 
"Okay, Momma." Obadiah ran to the back door. 
 
"Oh and son, don't go near the road." 
 
"I promise I won't Momma." 
 
Scully watched the small boy run out the back 
door. "Who's Buster?" 
 
"His dog, but you met him last night." Leah 
smiled as she finished wiping a plate, using the 
back of her sleeve to wipe a loose tendril of 
hair out of her eyes. 
 
Scully smiled and handed her another plate. "He's 
a darling child." 
 
Leah placed the last plate in the cupboard. 
"Obadiah? Yes he is." 
 
Scully let the water out of the sink. "Does he 
play in the road?" 
 
"Obadiah forgets how fast the motor cars travel. 
He's come close to being hit twice. I never let 
him get the mail unless I'm with him. He never 
developed like the other children did. He seemed 
well, slow. He didn't walk until he was almost 
three." Leah laughed. "But when he finally did he 
never stopped."  
 
"Does he attend school?" 
 
"No. We tried, but he just couldn't keep up and 
it frustrated him so. Obadiah will always be my 
baby." Leah said wistfully. 
 
Scully nodded silently. She understood Leah's 
concern for her child. Not for the first time did 
she wonder at the strength of women, who were 
faced with adversities in those they loved most, 
and yet made the best of it. "Does he like to 
watch the cows?" 
 
"He loves animals, but he's simply crazy about 
our milk cows. I think he's most satisfied around 
them. They pass no judgement on him and they like 
to see him coming, he's so gentle with them," 
Leah replied as she placed another plate in the 
cupboard. 
 
"All done," Scully smiled. 
 
"Good. I need a break." Leah arched her back, 
supporting the weight of her belly with her 
hands. She made slow circles with her well worn 
hands, in an age old rhythm of comfort and 
satisfaction known to pregnant women. Turning to 
the table, she looked up at Scully, "Your 
husband, he's a bit thin." 
 
"Mulder?" Scully said as she walked over to the 
table and pushed in the chair Obadiah had been 
sitting in. 
 
"Yes, but he seemed to have such an appetite at 
breakfast. I wish Matthew could keep the weight 
off like your Noah." 
 
Scully looked a little pensive. She had to tell 
her sometime, it just might as well be now. She 
pulled out a chair and sat down across from Leah 
at the kitchen table. She ran her tongue over  
her bottom lip. "Leah, I, I have a confession to 
make." 
 
Leah looked up at Scully. "What is it, Hannah?" 
 
Leah studied Scully for a long moment, sizing her 
up, perhaps, or wondering if her head was going 
to start spinning around, thanks to Mulder's 
mental breakdown story. 
 
Scully held her breath for a moment and then 
blurted out, "I can't cook! I mean I can, but not 
like you."  
 
The gentlewoman then smiled, "Is that all! 
Cooking can be learned. My mother was a great 
cook and she taught me. I can teach you. We'll 
put some meat on your husband's bones." 
 
Scully grinned back at Leah. "Thank you, I am 
very grateful. In return I want you to let me 
lift the heavy things around here. You're 
certainly not in the shape to be doing it." 
 
Leah took a moment to think. "There are no canned 
goods or provisions in your house. Tell you what, 
until you can get on your feet, you can help me 
out here and we'll cook together." 
 
"That's a deal!" Scully smiled. 
 
The rest of the morning flew by for Scully. It 
was bread baking day, and while Leah mixed up the 
dough, Scully kneaded it into loaves. Bread was 
made twice a week and with such a large family, 
it took many loaves to last. 
 
It was nearly noon when Obadiah ran into the 
kitchen. "Momma, I'm hungry." 
 
Leah laughed and wiped the sweat from her head. 
"Of course you are. You're always hungry. Go wash 
up and I'll get lunch." 
 
Obadiah went to the sink and pumped out the cool 
water. He soaped up his hands and face and 
scrubbed; making a joyful mess the way only a 
child could. 
 
Scully watched the little boy with interest.  
 
"Good boy. Now, go sit down." 
 
Obadiah pulled out a heavy wooden chair. 
 
"What sounds good, son?" His mother asked. 
 
"Gill cheese!" The little boy chimed. 
 
Scully and Leah both laughed. "He does love his 
grilled cheese." 
 
Scully watched as Leah pulled out a loaf of 
cheese. 
 
"Here let me do that," Scully said.  
 
Leah handed the knife to Scully and she began to 
slice off thin slices of cheese. 
 
Leah lit the propane stove with a match and 
placed a heavy skillet on the burner. She then 
buttered two slices of homemade bread and put two 
slices of cheese between them butter side out. 
She placed the sandwich on the hot skillet. 
 
"Hannah can you get me two tomatoes from the 
basement. We'll have sliced tomatoes for lunch." 
 
Scully went down the steps and was met with a 
cornucopia of home canned vegetables and fruits. 
Barrels held potatoes, squash and yams. She found 
what she was looking for and came up out of the 
basement, sparing a glance behind her. Basements 
were but one more thing that gave her the creeps 
at times. She washed and sliced the tomatoes, 
while Leah poured the cold milk. 
 
"Umm, good!" Obadiah said. 
 
Scully decided she liked the little boy with the 
soft eyes.  Those eyes told her he had a gentle 
soul; in their depths she recognized the same 
warm glow she had become familiar with in 
Mulder's. She watched him beneath her lashes 
until lunch was concluded. As soon as the last 
crumb was gone from his plate, Obadiah ran back 
outside.  
 
Scully rose to collect the dishes and spared a 
glance toward Leah. She was tired and drained 
from the heat, the work, and the baby she was 
carrying. 
 
"Leah, why don't you go rest? I can clean up. 
That I do know how to do." 
 
Leah laughed and patted her stomach. "I think I 
just might do that." 
 
"I'll look after Obadiah for you." 
 
"Thanks," Leah said as she left the kitchen to go 
downstairs. 
 
Scully did what little dishes they had used and 
cleaned off the table and the old stove. She then 
went outside to check on Obadiah and to get out 
of the heat of the kitchen. 
 
The boy was sitting on a wooden plank swing tied 
high in a maple tree. Scully stepped off the 
small porch and walked toward him, matching his 
smile with one of her own when he spotted her 
coming. 
 
"You want me to push you Obadiah?" She asked. 
 
"Yes, please. Momma used to do it, but she can't 
no more." 
 
Scully pushed the boy in the swing. He kicked out 
his tiny legs. "Your momma says that you like the 
cows?" 
 
"Yep, I do." He answered.  
 
"Do you know how to spell cow, Obadiah?" Scully 
asked as she pushed the swing. 
 
"No," the little boy replied. "Can you tell me 
how?" 
 
Scully stopped the swing and bent down next to 
him. "C-o-w. Cow. Can you say that?" She said it 
again. "C-o-w." 
 
Obadiah slowly said, "C-o-w." 
 
"That's right!" Scully laughed and stood up to 
push him again. 
 
"C-o-w, c-o-w, c-o-w." He repeated over and over 
as he swung higher. 
 
"Obadiah, you think you can remember that and 
surprise your momma at supper?" 
 
"I sure can Hannah. C-o-w. I like cows, 
'specially when they float like Poppa's boat on 
the lake."
 
With a start, Scully suddenly realized that he 
might have been witness to the cow that killed 
Agent Warren. She stopped the swing and took 
Obadiah by the hand, "Want to go for a walk?" 
 
"Sure. Hannah, you got pretty hair. Just like my 
momma's." 
 
"Obadiah, you said you liked it when the cows 
float. Can you show me the cows that do that?" 
 
The boy stopped walking and looked down at his 
bare feet, pulling on his bottom lip. "I can't do 
that." 
 
Scully was confused. "You can't tell me or you 
can't do that anymore?" 
 
The boy ran down the cow path. "I'm gonna go see 
the cows, come on Buster." The boy took off down 
the path with his dog barking at his side. 
 
Scully went back into Leah's kitchen and crossed 
through the wash house into her own side. She 
glanced out the window to see Obadiah playing 
with the calves. She climbed the stairs and went 
to the master bedroom. She hung up Mulder's 
clothes and took off her bonnet, letting down 
her hair. She went to the bathroom and filled 
the sink with cold water. As she washed her face 
she wondered how Mulder was faring. 
 
Scully dried her face and pulled back her hair. 
Looking out the upstairs window, she could easily 
see Obadiah still playing in the field. She 
secured the starched bonnet once more to her head  
and straightened her dress and went down stairs. 
Deciding she couldn't put off that trip to the 
outhouse any longer, she headed out the back 
door. 
 
As she crossed the yard, Scully would have only 
had to turn her head to the right to see a cow 
slowly float past her bedroom window and land 
back in the field. 
 
Leah had gotten up and was lighting the stove 
when Scully returned to the house. She quickly 
washed her hands and helped Leah pour water into 
the reservoir on the top of the stove.  
 
Leah wiped her hands on her apron as she said, 
"There's a haystack supper tomorrow night at the 
school. I thought I'd get my pies done early. 
There won't be much time tomorrow; it's wash 
day." 
 
Scully took the large bucket back to the wash 
house. "A haystack supper?" She asked as she shut 
the door.  
 
"Don't you have those back in your part of the 
country?"  
 
Scully just smiled and closed the top to the 
reservoir. 
 
"It's a fun way to raise money 'round here. This 
time it's for a new roof for the school." 
 
Leah sat her large mixing bowls on the table. 
"Can you get the measuring cups and mixing spoons 
out Hannah?" Leah asked. "The women all get 
together and make supper, but it's stacked in 
large bowls. Usually mashed potatoes go in first, 
and then noodles and roast beef or pork on top 
of that, finally corn or beans are added, and a 
slice a bread tops it off." She laughed. "I  
guess it kind of looks like a hay stack." 
 
"Sounds like fun." Scully said as she busied 
herself in the kitchen. 
 
"Oh it is." Leah said as she looked around the 
table. "Can you get me the eggs and some cream? 
But I'm in no shape to help this year, so I'm 
making some pies for the auction."  
 
Scully got the eggs and cream out of the icebox. 
"So what kind of pies are we making?" 
 
Leah looked at Scully with a grin. "WE are making 
a cherry pie, a rhubarb custard, and a German 
chocolate." Leah sat down and wiped her face with 
her apron. "What kind of pie does your husband 
like?" 
 
Scully thought for a moment. "Sweet potato," she 
said. 
 
Leah laughed. "He's in luck. I canned sweet 
potatoes last fall and there should still be a 
quart or two in the basement." 
 
"Hannah, can you go downstairs and bring me up a 
jar of rhubarb, a jar of cherries, two cups of 
pecans, and a jar of sweet potatoes? You'll find 
the nuts in a small wooden barrel. We'll have 
these pies done in no time." 
 
Scully did as she was asked and soon they were 
measuring and mixing and beating the ingredients 
together. She watched Leah as she cut a piece of 
lard into a small pile of flour she had poured 
on the table. Leah added some ice water a few 
drops at a time until she had a beautiful ball 
of piecrust dough. 
 
Suddenly the door was thrown open and in ran 
Obadiah holding his hand. He had pinched his 
fingers in the gate latch. Leah kissed his 
forehead and took him upstairs to mend his 
fingers.  
 
Scully looked down at the smooth ball of crust on 
the table. She was sure she could make her own 
crust now that she had seen a pro do it. She 
placed a small pile of flour on the table and  
cut a little lard into it. She added the water 
just like Leah had and rolled the mixture into a 
ball, but the ball was sticking to the table so 
she added more flour. This made the dough too 
stiff so she added more water. Finally the dough  
began to some what resemble the dough Leah had 
made. Scully was feeling pretty proud of herself. 
Just then Leah came back downstairs.  
 
"Is he okay?" Scully asked as she pushed back her 
hair with the back of her hand smudging her face 
with flour in the process. 
 
"He'll be fine. He does that all the time. I kiss 
it, get him a cold wash cloth to put on it and he 
lays down for a nap." 
 
Leah looked over at Scully's little ball of 
dough. "I see you have made your crust." 
 
"I hope so." Scully says, not entirely convinced. 
 
Soon the pie shells were all filled and 
baking in the oven. 
 
Leah stiffly stretched her aching back and sat 
down at the table as Scully cleaned up the mess 
they had made. "Where did you meet Noah?" 
 
Scully broke out in a sweat and this time it 
wasn't from the heat. 
 
Leah went on. "I met Matthew at a church picnic. 
I can still remember it like it was yesterday. 
Church was held at Jacob Mishler's Farm. 
Everyone was there. Some members of the 
congregation in Middlebury came over to join in 
the prayer service. Matthew was among them. He 
was the most handsome man I had ever laid eyes 
on." Leah blushed. 
 
Scully was furiously scrubbing the kitchen table. 
She knew she would have to come up with 
something. "Noah ran a small store back home. He 
needed help and I applied for the job. That was 
nine years ago." 
 
"So how long you been married?" 
 
Scully rinsed out the dishcloth. "About two 
years." 
 
Leah laughed. "You two certainly took your time." 
 
"Tell me about it." Scully muttered. She 
desperately wanted to change the topic. "Those 
pies smell great." 
 
"We'll have the cherry one for supper. How does 
rib-eye steak, cheese potatoes, lima beans and 
fried green tomatoes sound for supper." 
 
"Sounds great!"  
 
"Good, because you'll have to help. I'm just too 
worn out in this heat." 
 
Scully began to worry about the other woman. She 
went to the sink and filled a large glass with 
water and wet a dishcloth. She sat the glass 
before Leah and handed her the cloth. "Here. You 
look like you could use this." 
 
Leah smiled up at Scully. "I guess the good Lord 
sent me my own guardian angel." 
 
Scully pinked with pleasure, or heat, or 
deception. This was the part of the job that she 
found distasteful. She had to make people trust 
her, then pull out the gun and handcuffs and 
start arresting those trusting souls. 
 
Leah wiped her face with the cool cloth. "Can you 
take the pies out of the oven?" 
 
"Of course," Scully replied and grabbed the oven 
mitts.  
 
Soon the room was filled with the smell of 
cooling pies and boiling vegetables. Scully was 
peeling potatoes while Leah was preparing the 
steaks. Scully looked up at Leah. "When is the 
baby due?" 
 
"Doc told me it would be six more weeks but that 
was two weeks ago. Matthew has already made 
arrangements at the new birthing center down the 
road. They think I'm too old so I have to be 
there a few days before my due date." 
 
"That's probably best." Scully agreed.  
 
Leah finished putting the steaks on the broiler 
pan. "You and Noah want children?" 
 
Scully shifted in her chair and looked down at 
her hands. "We would love to have children, but I 
am unable." 
 
Leah stopped what she was doing and looked at 
Scully, softly saying, "Oh, I am sorry to hear 
that." 
 
Scully's blue eyes shimmered, but she hid it from 
Leah. Most of the time, their relationship and 
their professional life lives allowed her little 
time to miss having children. Times like these, 
however, faced with a chance to be near a mother 
so close to her time again, made her heart hurt. 
 
Soon supper was done and awaiting the men's 
return. Mary and Rebecca had been back for about 
an hour and they helped set the table. Scully 
went to her own home to clean up. She couldn't 
wait to see Mulder. It had been a long day with 
out him. Just then she heard Buster barking and 
the sound of horses hooves on the gravel drive. 
She looked out the upstairs window to see the 
team pulling up in front of the house. Out of the 
back of the wagon jumped David and Samuel. Mr. 
Beechy climbed down from the left side and an 
obviously sore Mulder slowly climbed down from 
the right.  
 
Scully ran down the stairs and out the wash house 
door toward the wagon. Mulder looked up at her 
with that grin of his and held out his arms. She 
gladly fell into them. His shirt was covered in 
sweat but she didn't care, he was home. He took  
off his hat and wiped his face on his rolled up 
sleeve. He then dropped his arm and wrapped it 
around Scully and squeezed her. "Anyone miss me?" 
he teased. 
 
"You'll never know just how much." Scully grinned 
up at him. 
 
He leaned over and whispered in her ear. "Maybe 
later, I'll let you show me." 
 
Beechy and the boys went over to a pump that 
stood near the barn and washed up. As much as 
Mulder hated to, he let go of Scully to join 
them. 
 
Scully could tell by the way that he walked he was 
tired and sore, but she would take care of that 
later. 
 
A prayer was said and supper was served. Everyone 
dug in. Obadiah looked over at Scully and she 
nodded her head to him. He grinned and spoke up, 
"Momma, hey, Momma!" He wasn't being heard above 
the din at the table. Finally Scully said, 
"Leah," and glanced down to Obadiah. 
 
Leah put down her fork and turned to her son. 
"What is it?" The table grew quiet and Obadiah 
began to freeze. 
 
Scully smiled at him and said softly, "Go on." 
 
Obadiah spoke up. "Momma, I can spell cows." 
 
Everyone looked at him as he began. "C-O-W, 
cows!" 
 
The entire gathering laughed and clapped. The 
small boy turned red. 
 
Leah grabbed her son. "Who taught you that!" 
 
"She did!" He said as he pointed to Scully. 
 
Scully blushed and looked at him. "You said you 
could remember it and you did." 
 
"Yes I did! C-O-W, cows." 
 
Scully caught Mulder staring at her. A smile 
crossed his face, and then he winked at her. 
 
The rest of the meal was eaten in silence on 
Mulder's part. Scully knew something was 
bothering him, and right after the dishes were 
done she was going to find out just what it was. 
 
Scully found Mulder standing under a tree, 
leaning against a fence post. She slowly 
approached him. "Hey," she softly said as 
she ran her hand across his back. She'd been with 
this man long enough to know when something was 
wrong; Mulder was feeling sorry for himself. 
 
She leaned against the post and faced him. Her 
arms were crossed over her chest. She glanced 
around to make sure no one was within earshot. 
"Okay Mulder, what gives?" 
 
Mulder didn't say anything. 
 
Scully lowered her head and raised her eyes. 
"Mulder?" 
 
"I can't farm, Scully." He said quietly, with 
such despondency in his voice Scully had 
difficulty hiding the smile that teased at the 
corner of her mouth. 
 
"What?" 
 
"I can't farm," he repeated. 
 
"Well, Mulder, most city people can't, without 
some instruction." 
 
"No, Scully, they won't let me farm!" 
 
Scully frowned and circled him, ducking under his 
arm that rested against the post, leaving her 
hands on his warm chest. "Mulder." 
 
"I pulled fucking weeds all day." He continued to 
stare out over her head at the vast farmlands. 
 
"Why? Why did you pull weeds?" He was confusing 
her with his cryptic weed comments. 
 
"Well for starters, the horses got away from me. 
Then I couldn't stack the damn wheat into those 
little piles. That's a lot harder than it looks!" 
His head of steam was growing she could see it. 
 
"I'm sure it is, but why did you pull weeds." 
 
Mulder leaned down and looked into her eyes and 
snapped, "I guess Beechy got tired of chasing 
down the horses!" 
 
"It's a good thing I told Leah you were a 
shopkeeper." Scully mumbled as she turned to 
stand next to him. 
 
"What?" Mulder looked down at her. 
 
"Never mind." She knew she had to pull him out of 
his funk or the whole evening would be shot. "So 
where did you pull these hated weeds?" 
 
"In the bean field. I'm telling you, there is not 
a weed left in that entire five acres. I even 
scared off the baby weeds." 
 
"Even the baby weeds, huh. If you ask me, it 
takes a real man to completely eradicate weeds 
from a five acre plot. It takes precision, 
attention to detail, persistence...." 
 
He cut her off, "Ok, ok, I get the point." She 
grinned up at him, knowing the crisis had passed.  
 
Mulder chuckled as he drew her close to him. "And 
what did you do today?" 
 
"Not much." She didn't have the heart to tell her 
big strong man with the bruised ego how much she 
had learned from Leah and the fun they'd had. "I 
did bake a pie for the auction tomorrow night." 
 
Mulder rubbed his nose against hers and grinned. 
"You're turning into a regular Betty Crocker, 
aren't you." 
 
Scully remembered her talk with Obadiah. "Mulder 
I spent some time with Obadiah." 
 
"I see that." Mulder smiled and pulled her even 
closer. 
 
"No, besides that. I think he has some connection 
or knows something about your flying cows." 
 
"Seriously?" 
 
"He told me he liked to 'see them float like 
Poppa's boat on the lake'."  
 
"It does sound like the kid might know something. 
You seem to have established a rapport with him, 
you work on that end, and I'm going over to the 
crime scene." 

Mulder looked up to see a horse and cart pulling 
up the lane. Beechy came out to greet the man 
behind the reins.  
 
"Mulder." Beechy called out and motioned for 
Mulder to join him. 
 
"Oh, what now?" he groaned as he released Scully.  
 
"Maybe the word got out about your prowess with 
weeds." 
 
"Keep it up, Scully, and you'll be bathing alone 
tonight." 
 
The couple walked over to the cart. "Mulder, this  
is LeRoy Bontrager. He has a cart you can use 
until you get yourself a rig." 
 
LeRoy was a short man with a large nose and a 
huge grin. "Mr. Mulder," LeRoy said as he 
extended his hand. 
 
"Mr. Bontrager." Mulder returned the handshake. 
"This is awfully nice of you." 
 
"No trouble, Mr. Mulder. You can help me out 
someday." 
 
"Yeah, he might have weeds to pull." Scully said 
under her breath. 
 
Mulder elbowed her, "Shush, woman." The murderous 
gleam in his partner's eye didn't escape his 
notice. Luckily, however, it flew past the two 
men he was speaking with. 
 
LeRoy unhitched his horse and crawled onto its 
back. With a wave of his hand he headed down the 
lane. 
 
Beechy called out to his son mucking stalls in 
the barn. "David, bring up Judy." 
 
He turned to Mulder and Scully. "Judy is a gentle 
horse. She's got some age on her, so we don't use 
her much." 
 
David came out with a chestnut brown horse with a 
dark mane and tail. She looked like every other 
horse they had seen in the last two days. 
 
Judy was soon harnessed to the cart. Mulder took 
Scully by the hand, "Come on, Hannah." 
 
Scully spotted Obadiah playing in the dirt with a 
toy horse. "Hang on a minute Mulder." She went 
over to the child and bent down. Soon she was 
returning with Obadiah in tow.  
 
Scully looked over to Mr. Beechy. "If it's okay 
with you Beechy, I'd like to take him with 
us."  
 
Beechy walked over and bent down to pick the boy 
up. He smiled at him as he sat him in the cart. 
"Now you don't give these people any trouble, 
son."  
 
"I won't, Poppa." 
 
Beechy helped Scully into the cart, slapped Judy 
on the rear and off they went. Mulder was at the 
reins while Scully was not convinced this was such 
a good idea. Her nervous look made him smile. 
"Nine plus years together, Hannah, how many times 
have I been in an accident?" 
 
He paused. "Never. Well, not driving, anyway." 
 
Her mouth opened.  
 
"And accidents caused by ghosts, conspirators, or 
other bad drivers don't count," he countered 
before she could voice her opinion. 
 
"Why the hell not?" 
 
"Hannah! You kiss your mother with that mouth?" 
He glanced down at Obadiah who was excitedly 
watching the scenery go by at a steady snail's pace. 
He paid no attention to anything the adults were
saying. -- 


The sun was setting and everything took on a 
golden glow. They reached the end of the lane 
that led to the Beechy farm and Scully spoke 
up. "Okay, Noah, which way now?" 
 
"According to the paper, it happened not too far 
from Fern's Diner." Mulder said, aware of the 
child sitting beside him. 
 
Obadiah chimed in. "Fern's, that's where Becky 
and Mary works." 
 
Scully looked down at him. "Do you know where 
Fern's is Obadiah?" 
 
"That way." The boy pointed to the right. 
 
"Then right it is." Mulder grinned and snapped 
the reins. 
 
The cart stayed on the buggy path at the edge of 
the highway. Luckily the traffic was light, which 
helped Scully become more comfortable with Mulder 
at the reins. They had gone about three-quarters 
of a mile when Obadiah yelled, "There it is!"  He 
pointed to a gray, low slung building just ahead.  
 
"According to the report, we turn left at the 
next crossroads and go another quarter mile. 
 
Obadiah was suddenly excited. He pointed across 
the highway. "Look! Cows, c-o-w, cows." 
 
Scully smiled down at him and draped her arm 
around his shoulder. 
 
"Look." Mulder pointed to the right. "That cow's 
out of the pen." 
 
Obadiah turned in his seat to watch the dairy cow 
grazing along the highway. 
 
"Mulder, you think we should turn around and put 
it back? 
 
"Not now. I want to get to the scene while it's 
still light." 
 
Mulder looked down at the tight expression on 
Obadiah's face and said softly to the little boy, 
"When we come back, we'll put her in the pen. 
Okay?" 
 
Obadiah just nodded his head. 
 
"Mulder, here's the corner." 
 
Mulder managed to get the little cart across the 
highway and around the corner without getting 
anyone killed. 
 
"There's the tape." He pointed down the road and 
to the left. He pulled the cart over to the edge 
of the road and tied the horse to a fence post. 
"I'm not chasing any more horses," he muttered to 
himself. He lifted Obadiah down and then helped 
Scully. She took Obadiah by the hand and they 
walked to the path that led into the field. 
Mulder unlatched the gate and led the little 
group to the crime scene. 
 
In the dimming light there wasn't much to see. 
Mulder lifted the tape and bent down to touch the 
loose soil. Scully released Obadiah's hand and 
bent down so she too could check out the scene. 
"There isn't much to go on, Mulder. Hoof prints, 
a depression, and it looks like dried blood." 
 
Mulder was crouched down chewing on his thumbnail 
when he heard Scully shout, "Obadiah!" The boy 
was headed toward the highway. Scully grabbed 
Mulder by the shoulder, "Mulder! The highway! 
He'll get hit!" 
 
Mulder leapt to his feet and took off running 
toward the child. Scully followed as quickly as 
she could, but with the long skirt she wore she 
had no prayer of keeping up with him. They both 
shouted Obadiah's name, as Scully watched 
Mulder's back pulling farther away from her. 
 
Obadiah seemed not to hear the adults calling his 
name, nor see the large semi-truck coming down 
the highway. He had a single purpose in mind, 
focused only on his appointed mission of saving 
that cow.  
 
Mulder was gaining on him, his long legs flying 
when out of the corner of his eye he spotted the 
truck approaching. In an instant he knew the 
reflection from the sun on the window would make 
it hard for the driver to see the boy before it 
was too late. 
 
Obadiah was nearing the fence. How much of a head 
start did he have on them anyway? Mulder shook 
his head, children and crime scenes obviously 
didn't mix. He and Scully were so involved, they 
had let the boy simply run off. 
 
Mulder looked past the boy and saw the cow that 
had strayed onto the highway. His lungs were 
burning, but he knew Obadiah wouldn't let the 
cow come to harm, and he had to get to the 
boy. All that stood between Obadiah and the truck 
was a thin wire fence. 
 
Mulder knew Obadiah's plan was to get to the cow, 
to shoo it off of the road, but there was no way 
the boy could do that without getting killed. 
 
The boy hit the fence and began to climb. The 
roar of the truck reverberated through Mulder's 
head. He wasn't going to make it, he wasn't 
going to make it, no matter how fast he went, 
he wasn't going to stop the death of this small 
boy left in his care. He could vaguely hear 
Scully's voice cracking as she pleaded with the 
child to not climb the fence. 
 
Obadiah had his feet on the first cross wire of 
the fence and came to a dead halt. The cow that 
stood on the highway slowly rose up. The semi 
cleared the hooves by only inches. The cow moo'ed  
nervously as it gently fell back onto the 
highway. 
 
Mulder nearly ran through the fence before he 
could stop. He was so winded he had to bend over 
to catch his breath. Scully charged into him, 
nearly knocking him over. 
 
"Hannah, see the cow. C-o-w." 
 
Obadiah was oblivious to what had just happened, 
but the cow wasn't. She took off for the open 
gate and didn't stop running. 
 
Mulder was still panting. "Scully, did you see 
that!" 
 
Scully gulped in heavy breaths. "I think I did." 
 
"That was amazing." Mulder slumped to the ground. 
 
Obadiah had crawled off the fence. Scully grabbed 
the boy and hugged him tightly. 
 
"Hannah!" Obadiah yelled, "I saw the cows!" He 
hugged her back. 
 
"You sure did." Scully said as she slowly got to 
her feet. She took Obadiah by one hand while 
Mulder took the other. 
 
The horse plodded along, retracing the route that 
had brought them to the field. Obadiah was fast 
asleep in Scully's lap. Scully whispered, "What 
do you think just happened?" 
 
Mulder was still in a state of euphoria. He shook 
his head. "I have no idea. It could be 
atmospheric, climatic, geographical, or any 
combination of things." Mulder sighed. "Scully, I 
am so sore." 
 
Scully stopped rubbing Obadiah's back and began 
to rub Mulder's thigh. "I think I can take care 
of that later tonight," she purred. "A cool bath 
for two, a backrub." 
 
"Son of a bitch!" Mulder growled as he pulled the 
cart to a halt and stood up. 
 
"Mulder! What is it?" Scully said with alarm in 
her voice. 
 
"A weed!" And there, in the middle of the bean 
field stood a tall weed taunting Mulder. 
 
Scully just shook her head and sighed, "Oh, no, 
here we go again." 
 


Part III Thursday August 8 
 
Scully was up early, having slept much better in 
the basement where the temperature was twenty 
degrees cooler than the upstairs bedroom. She 
awoke to find Mulder had snuggled up against her 
in the night, seeking her warmth. She dressed, 
made her trip to the outhouse and went in to help 
Leah get breakfast ready.  
 
After a breakfast of home canned bacon, eggs, 
toast, fruit and cereal, the men made their way 
out the door to work in the fields. 
 
Scully followed Mulder to the wagon. She 
whispered to him, "Don't forget that weed." He 
kissed her lightly as the boys giggled. Mulder 
made a wise crack back at them, crawled into the 
wagon and off they went. 
 
The beds were all stripped and the linens 
changed. Laundry was piled high in the wash 
house. Leah got the gas-powered wringer washer 
going while Scully filled the pot with water to 
heat.  
 
By noon the laundry was almost done and had been 
hung on the line to dry. Lightly hued dresses, 
dark colored trousers, along  with towels, 
underwear and bed quilts. Once she got the hang 
of it, Scully had done most of the laundry 
herself.  
 
Leah was making lunch for the three of them. 
Obadiah had been down in the cow pasture all 
morning and was slowly making his way back to 
the house as Scully was finishing hanging the 
last of the laundry. Obadiah saw Scully and ran 
to her. "Hannah, can you tell me how to spell 
Buster?" Scully was taken by the boy's zest to 
learn, even if he couldn't tell a C from an O 
from a W yet. 
 
Scully stooped down and took his hands in her 
own. "Well, Buster is a dog. How about I teach 
you how to spell dog?" 
 
"Okay!" Obadiah jumped with excitement. 
 
"First, how do you spell cow?' 
 
"C-O-W!" The boy repeated. 
 
"That's good. Now dog is D-O-G." 
 
Obadiah repeated slowly, "D-O-G." 
 
"That's right." Scully smiled at him. "D-O-G." 
 
Obadiah grabbed Scully around the neck with his 
small dirty hands. "I like you, Hannah." 
 
Scully laughed and patted him on the back. "I 
like you too, Obadiah." 
 
She pulled away from him and grabbed his hand. 
"Let's wash up for lunch." 
 
They walked over to the old pump and soaped up 
their hands. Scully wanted to talk to the boy 
about the incident last night but she knew, now 
was not the time. His attention spans being so  
short and he was intent on learning how to spell 
dog. 
 
Leah already had lunch on the table. They ate 
creamed turkey and biscuits along with homemade 
applesauce. After lunch was cleaned up the rest 
of the day was spent folding and ironing  
clothes, greeting the iceman, and dusting the 
house. 
 
Leah let Scully talk her into going downstairs to 
rest. That left Scully with Obadiah. She found 
him playing in the dirt with his toys again. She 
took four homemade cookies from the jar and 
poured two glasses of milk and went outside to 
sit on the front porch steps. Obadiah looked 
over at her and realized she had cookies. He 
jumped up and raced over to her. Scully chewed on 
her cookie while he stared at her. She grinned up 
at him. She wanted to see who flinched first.  
 
He shifted his weight from foot to foot while 
Scully ate the cookie. Then he pointed to the 
other cookies, "Zat mine?" Scully laughed at him. 
 
"Sure, if you want them." She handed him a cookie 
as he sat one step below her. He took a healthy 
bite of his cookie and a drink of his milk, 
wiping his mouth on his sleeve. "Your husband is  
tall," He said with a smile. 
 
Scully nearly choked on her cookie. "Yes he is." 
 
"I like him." 
 
"Thank you. I do too. Did you have fun with us 
last night?" 
 
"Uh huh. Judy likes him. He goes slow." 
 
Scully laughed. 
 
"Did you see the cow on the highway, Obadiah?" 
 
"Yeah. Momma says the motor cars will hurt me." 
 
"Yes, yes they will." 
 
"Will they hurt the cow too?"  
 
She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess so. But the 
cow didn't get hit, did it? Why is that?" 
 
"She floated like poppa's boat." 
 
"Do you know how she floated, Obadiah?" 
 
"I maked her." He said as he picked up another 
cookie. 
 
Scully was floored by his revelation. Just then 
Buster came up. 
 
"Hannah!" Obadiah screamed with delight. "Buster 
eat my cookie!" Obadiah laughed and took off 
after the dog. 
 
Scully sighed. Mulder was going to explode with 
joy. 
 
The men came in from the fields earlier that 
usual. They wanted to clean up for the haystack 
supper that was scheduled for that evening. 
Scully had already dressed and was pulling her 
shoes on when Mulder stomped through the bedroom 
door. He dropped to the bed and fell backwards.  
 
"Scully, I will take chasing mothmen over farming 
any day." 
 
She leaned over him to softly kiss his lips. 
"Well Farmer Fox we have a supper to go to 
tonight." 
 
Mulder let out a sigh and grabbed her. "I suggest 
you get your dirty paws off me." 
 
"That sounds vaguely familiar."  
 
"Familiar or not you need to get cleaned up." 
Scully grabbed him by the hand and pulled his 
towering frame up off the bed. She shoved him 
down the hallway and into the bathroom. 
 
He undressed while she ran his bath water. "I 
saved this for you."  Scully poured a bucket of 
steaming water into the bath. 
 
"Oh Scully, you're too good to me," he said, 
climbing into the tub. 
 
Scully pulled a small stool beside the deep tub 
and sat down. "Mulder, I had a talk with Obadiah 
today." 
 
"What did he say?" 
 
"He said he moved the cow out of the path of that 
truck." 
 
Mulder leveled his gaze at her. "How?" 
 
"I don't know. His attention span is so short I 
have a hard time talking to him." 
 
"Sounds like you're doing fine. You really like 
that boy, don't you?" 
 
"I feel so sorry for him. The potential is there 
but he isn't getting the attention he needs." 
 
"He is from you." Mulder softly answered. 
 
"But we'll soon be gone and where does that leave 
him?" 
 
"I don't know what to tell you, Scully. I guess 
we'll figure that out later." 
 
"Yeah, well your water is getting cold and I'm 
getting hungry so haul ass, G-man." 
 
"That's Farmer Fox to you." Mulder groaned again, 
hauling said ass out of the low tub. His muscles 
ached so badly, he was sure one more day would 
kill him. 
 
Mulder was soon dressed and met Scully 
downstairs. She stood to follow him outside, her 
eyes drinking him in. She still so loved the 
looks of this man, beard and all. Beechy had 
already hitched Pat and Star to the buggy. Leah 
came out carrying the pies. Mulder ran over to 
help her. 
 
Beechy helped Leah climb into the front of the 
buggy while Mulder helped Scully into the back. 
The older children had already gone ahead with 
friends. That left Obadiah standing beside the 
buggy. Scully looked down at him and put out her 
hand, soon he was sitting between her and Mulder. 
Mulder looked over at Scully who just smiled and 
shrugged her shoulders.  
 
Beechy told stories of his childhood as the buggy 
wound its way past homes and farms. At the crest 
of a small hill stood a single story white 
clapboard building. The wooden steps led up to a 
set of wide double doors, and each side of the 
building was framed with six windows. They 
drove down the gravel lane to where some twenty 
to thirty buggies stood. Beechy found a spot on  
the hitching post and tied Pat and Star to it. 
Mulder got out of the buggy and helped Scully 
down, then they both helped Leah. Obadiah jumped 
to the ground. 
 
Mulder took Scully by the hand and they walked 
slowly past the rows of buggies. He stopped and 
looked over the site around him. "Scully, how do 
they tell these things apart!" 
 
She laughed. "Come on." 
 
Leah and Beechy were already inside when the 
agents arrived. The small room was packed with 
bearded men and women in long dresses. Children 
ran to and fro. A line was formed and tickets 
were sold to the supper. Mulder bought two 
tickets and he and Scully proceeded to get in 
line to eat. The long tables were filled with  
food and were overseen by the Amish women who 
stood behind them, generously dishing up the 
feast. Laughter permeated the air, along with 
the wonderful aroma of dinner.  
 
Mulder led Scully over to a small out of the way 
table. She followed him, balancing her plate and 
drink noticing the glances Mulder was generating 
from the younger women. Even Amish women gawked 
at him like love sick schoolgirls she thought. He 
didn't notice, though, he rarely did and she 
chose to keep her mouth shut. 
 
Obadiah made his way through the crowd to stand 
before Mulder and Scully holding his bowl. 
"Momma says if'n I'm good I can eat by you, 
Hannah." Scully scooted over on the bench she and 
Mulder shared. 
 
"Sure you can Obadiah, but wouldn't you rather 
eat with the other kids?" 
 
Obadiah looked around the room longingly at the 
other children. "I don't go here with them. 
You're my friend, Hannah." 
 
Scully's eyes grew cloudy and her throat 
tightened. Mulder could see she was not going to 
last long if he didn't change the subject. 
"Obadiah, you like cows, huh." 
 
"And dogs!" The boy spoke up. "D-O-G, dogs." He 
grinned up at Scully. 
 
Scully smiled at him and let out a tear-choked 
laugh. 
 
"That's good." Mulder praised. "But you really 
like the cows." 
 
Obadiah was losing interest in Mulder and he 
sensed he was not going to get anywhere with the 
boy. He glanced over to Scully, catching her eye, 
he then looked back down to Obadiah. Scully took 
the cue and reached out to gently touch Obadiah's 
arm. He immediately focused on her. "Obadiah, 
last night when the cow was on the highway. Do 
you remember?" 
 
He nodded his head as he ate his supper. 
 
"Good. The cow was going to get hurt by the big 
truck, right?" 
 
He nodded again. 
 
"How did the cow get off the highway?" 
 
Mulder looked intently at the boy but said 
nothing. Scully licked her bottom lip and 
glanced at Mulder then back at Obadiah.  
 
She leaned in and softly said, "You can tell me." 
 
"I told you she floated like Poppa's boat." 
 
"But how did she float?" Scully took Obadiah's 
hands. 
 
"I maked her." 
 
"You did?" Scully looked him in the eye, hoping 
to keep his attention. 
 
"She was on the highway. The truck was gonna hurt 
her like it did my cousin Thomas." 
 
"Thomas was hurt." Scully asked, her eyes big as 
saucers. 
 
"A truck hurt Thomas and he never came back." 
Mulder was stunned. He scrubbed his face with his 
hand. 
 
"And you didn't want the cow to get hurt?" 
Scully's voice cracked. 
 
"Nope. I like cows. I like Thomas, too." The boy 
broke eye contact with her, and turned back to 
his supper. 
 
Scully didn't know how much more of this she 
could take. 
 
"How did you make the cow float?" 
 
Obadiah stopped eating and turned both hands up. 
Mulder and Scully both let out a sigh. Obadiah 
got up. "I wanna drink, Hannah." 
 
"Can you get it by yourself." Scully asked 
softly. The boy nodded and disappeared into the 
crowd. 
 
"Scully, that kid lost a cousin to the traffic 
and these people still insist on riding around in 
those death traps. Amazing." Mulder slumped back 
against the wall. 
 
"I know." Scully sighed. "But you believe he 
controls the cows?" 
 
"I'm not so sure. I know he thinks he does. I'm 
not convinced that something else isn't going on 
here. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these 
folks have seen similar phenomenon, but only  
Obadiah is honest enough admit it." 
 
"Let's eat and get out of here," she said. "I've 
had my heart strings tugged at enough for one 
night." Mulder looked over at her and gently 
rubbed her back, Scully and kids. Hell, himself 
and kids were a dangerous combination these days, 
they were both reaching the point of no return 
for raising a child, and still didn't know what 
they wanted to do about her inability to 
conceive.  
 
The supper was finished and the dishes removed. 
The tables were pushed to the side and the pies 
to be auctioned were brought out. All sorts of 
pies soon filled the tables, cherry, apple, 
rhubarb, sweet potato and various custards and 
berries. 
 
LeRoy Bontrager stepped forward and tried to 
quiet the crowd. "Everyone! Everyone!" He pleaded 
with his hands in the air. The room finally grew 
quiet. "The pies are ready to be sold so  
everyone take a good look, especially the young 
men." He laughed while the girls all giggled. 
"All the money we raise is going to the school 
roof fund." LeRoy stepped aside and let the crowd 
look over the pies. Young men came up with their 
girlfriends in tow. The girl would point out the 
pie she had made and the boy would nod. 
 
Mulder was resting his hip against a table that 
had been pushed aside. His arms were crossed over 
his chest and one foot hung off the edge of the 
table as he watched this Amish mating ritual 
with interest. Scully was standing next to him 
softly talking to Obadiah. 
 
"Hannah, what pie did you bake?" he asked Scully. 
 
"Mulder, you do not what to know!" 
 
"Come on." He nudged her. "It can't be that bad." 
 
Scully sighed. "Sweet potato." 
 
"Just for me," he teased. 
 
"Not if you value your health, it isn't." Scully 
sniped back. 
 
The crowd parted and LeRoy started the auction. 
The bidding was fast and furious. The boys all 
bought their girlfriends pies while Leah's 
brought in the high bid of 17 dollars so far. 
They were down to three pies when LeRoy held up 
Scully's. 
 
"Now who wants to open the bidding on this nice 
sweet potato pie?" Mulder stood from his leaning 
position and raised his hand. "I bid one hundred 
dollars." A hush fell across the room, while all 
eyes turned to Mulder. 
 
"Mulder!" Scully gasped.  
 
He looked down at her. "Hannah, it goes for a 
good cause and I really like sweet potato pie."  
 
The room burst into applause.  
 
Later that night as the moon hung low and heavy 
over the quiet fields, a woman stood outside an 
outhouse hugging her robe to her body. 
 
"I am so sorry, Mulder." 
 
From inside the tiny building came a faint reply. 
"That's ok, Scully. It wasn't your fault." 
 


Part IV Friday August 9 
 
The next morning breakfast was served. Mulder 
had recovered and the men were on their way to 
the fields. Mulder had finally gotten the hang 
of handling the team. He would drive them up to a 
row of wheat shocks and climb off. Then he, 
Beechy and the boys would throw the wheat on with 
pitchforks while the horses walked down the row. 
At the end of the row Mulder would climb back on  
and start the team down the next row. The horses 
had done this for so many years that they were as 
much a part of the team as Beechy and his sons. 
 
Leah was looking rather pale that morning. Mary 
had wondered if she should stay home with her 
mother but Scully reassured her she would be 
there if anything happened. 
 
It was the day Leah did her house cleaning, but 
she didn't feel well so Scully swept the floors 
and washed the one in the kitchen. She dusted the 
furniture and watered all the houseplants while 
Obadiah ran in and out entertaining himself. 
 
Leah went downstairs to lie down while Scully got 
lunch. She fixed grilled cheese sandwiches and 
opened a jar of peaches. At least she knew she 
would not be poisoning anyone. She called 
Obadiah in to wash his hands. He looked around 
with concern on his face, "Hannah, where's 
Momma?" 
 
"She didn't feel well, Obadiah. She's downstairs 
in bed." 
 
"I wanna see her." He headed out of the kitchen 
and toward the stairs when Scully grabbed his 
arm. "Sweetie, Momma is tired. Why don't you eat 
and then you can take her down a sandwich." 
 
He nodded his head, seemingly satisfied for the 
time being. 
 
While Obadiah was wolfing down his sandwich 
Scully was hoping to talk to him further about 
the cows. "Obadiah, do you remember how to spell 
cow?" 
 
The little boys' face lit up. "'Course I do, 
Hannah!" he croaked out. "C-O-W, cows." He 
grinned at Scully. 
 
"And how do cows float?" 
 
The boy studied his sandwich intensely. "I don't 
know but they do." 
 
"DO any other animals float, Obadiah?"  
 
"Nope. Jus' cows. I like cows." He got up from 
the table. "I wanna see Momma." 
 
Scully made another sandwich and sent it 
downstairs with Obadiah. She got out a glass of 
milk and followed. Obadiah was already sitting 
next to Leah on the bed when she got there. 
 
"I thought you could use this." She said as she 
set the glass down. 
 
"Thanks, Hannah." Leah didn't look well to Scully 
and she thought it was more than usual final 
trimester discomfort. "Leah, when did you last 
see your doctor?" 
 
"The day before you arrived." 
 
"And he thought everything was fine?" 
 
"He told me to take it easy. That's why I was so 
glad to hear you were coming." 
 
"Well, I want you to get some rest. I'll watch 
this boy of yours. If you start to feel labor 
pains, you call for me immediately." Scully said 
grabbing Obadiah's nose. "And I'll see what I can 
do about feeding the men," she sighed. 
 
Late in the afternoon a car pulled up and Mary 
got out. She was worried about her mother and 
caught a ride home. She and Scully finished the 
housework and got supper on the table. 
 
-- 
 
Mulder had taken his bath and put on his pajama 
bottoms. He found Scully already in bed in the 
basement. She was so tired she had gone to bed 
earlier than usual. He crawled in next to her and 
turned down the oil lamp. "Rough day?" He asked 
as he spooned up next to her wrapping his arm so 
tightly around her that his hand rested on the 
bed, curled under her ribs. 
 
"Umm hum," she murmured. 
 
Mulder's lips trailed the back of her neck. 
 
"Mulder, I talked to Obadiah today." Scully 
mumbled. 
 
"What'd he say?" Mulder asked as he ran his 
bearded chin across her cheek. 
 
"Just that cows float and other animals don't." 
 
"It's not much." 
 
"I know Mulder, I think we're at a dead end." 
 
"It would appear so." 
 
"I'm sure Obadiah is involved," Scully sighed, 
"But I just don't know how." 
 
"You think he orchestrated the flying cows?" 
 
"I don't know." 
 
"Even if he is behind it Scully, we can't charge 
him. He was nowhere near the scene; he's only 
eight and no one would believe us." 
 
"I know." 
 
The bedroom door creaked open. Scully froze. 
Mulder sat up straight. It was Obadiah. He ran 
over to Scully's side of the bed crying. 
"Hannah, Momma's sick." 
 
"Oh Mulder!" Scully whispered as she quickly got 
out of bed and grabbed her robe, her eyes 
beseeching him to come with her, to be her 
strength as he always was. He was out of the bed 
and pulling his own robe over his shoulders as 
Obadiah led them into the other house and down 
the stairs. 
 
Mary and Rebecca stood outside the bedroom door,
Wide-eyed and in their nightclothes. David told her 
Samuel had been sent down to Fern's to use the 
pay phone to call the doctor.  
 
Scully entered the bedroom, Mulder close on her 
heels not giving a thought to the modesty of the 
Amish women. Beechy, sitting on the edge of the 
bed holding Leah's hand seemed non-plussed by his 
presence. He looked scared. Leah was covered in 
sweat, despite the relative cool air of the 
basement, her nightgown soaked through. 
 
"I think it's the baby." Beechy said unable to 
hide the concern in his voice. Scully gently 
touched his shoulder. "Mr. Beechy would you go 
get a bucket of cold water and a wash cloth." He  
nodded and squeezed his wife's hand as he got up 
from the bed. 
 
"What do you want me to do?" Mulder's eyes 
riveted into hers, his hands griping her 
shoulders in an effort to concentrate, and to 
hide his shaking hands from Leah. 
 
"I think this baby is about to be born. Can you 
get my bag from the suitcase?" Mulder nodded, he 
knew which bag she meant. "You going to be 
okay?" Scully drew in a deep breath. "Yeah I'll 
be fine, just get the bag." 
 
Mulder passed Beechy on the stairs. "Your wife 
ever delivered a baby before?" Mulder nodded. 
"Once and she has had some medical training," 
then he added, "Don't worry they'll all be fine." 
 
Scully came out and asked Mary to get her one of 
Leah's heavy white cooking aprons and some 
linens and towels. She had Becky put the on 
coffeepot. It looked like they would need some 
before the night was through. She let Obadiah in 
for a few minutes to see his mother but then 
shooed everyone out except for Beechy. 
 
Scully approached Leah and spoke quietly. "I'm 
going to check you, if that's all right. I need 
to know how far you're dilated." 
 
Leah nodded, biting her bottom lip as another 
contraction began. As it waned, she positioned 
her hips and asked, "How do you know how to do 
that?" 
 
"I've had some training, and I've delivered a 
baby or two. Don't worry, you're going to do 
just fine."  
 
Scully went to the basin and rinsed her hands. 
"Well, I hope you're ready to meet your son or 
daughter, because you are at an eight, and almost 
fully effaced. That means we don't have much 
time. Have you been laboring all day?" 
 
"I think so, I just wanted to wait until I was a 
little farther along before I went to the clinic. 
The others took much longer, I thought I had 
time. 
 
Upstairs the older children were holding a prayer 
vigil. Obadiah and Beechy were sitting in the 
stairwell, waiting. 
 
Mulder returned with her bag, he crossed through 
the doorway as Leah screamed, a contraction 
ripping through her. Mulder paled around the 
mouth. "What else do you need?" 
 
"Take my scissors and have one of the girls put 
them in a pot of boiling water for ten minutes, 
have her put another pot on and boil a few strips 
of cloth, anything, as long as its white. When 
the scissors are done have them take them out 
with tongs, not touching the blade and wrap them 
in a cloth they boiled. Then bring them back to 
me. Have one of them bring me lots of towels,  
some string, and the baby blankets that Leah was 
working on. 
 
Mulder turned to go back up the stairs, barking 
orders as he went. She could hear feet flying 
about, doing as he commanded. 
 
Leah groaned through the end of another 
contraction. "Your husband can give orders." She 
laughed weakly, then sucked her breath in through 
her teeth as another one hit. They were coming 
incredibly close, Scully knew she didn't have 
much time left. 
 
"Leah, I need to check you again, and yes, he 
does give orders well."  
 
-- 
 
On the stairwell, Leah's screams were upsetting 
Obadiah. "Mary." Beechy called out. 
 
Mary approaches the stairwell. "Yeah Poppa?" 
 
"Take your brother here and get him some food. 
You might as well start breakfast. I don't think 
any of us are going to be gettin' anymore sleep." 
Mary took Obadiah by the hand and led him up to 
the kitchen. -- 
 
Back in the basement, Scully had Leah's shoulders 
propped up with pillows, allowing gravity to give 
them a hand. Both of the women were drenched with 
sweat. 
 
"Ok, here we go, one more good push and you're 
there. Ready? Push! Push Leah! Good, just like 
that, keep going...." Scully guided the head, 
then tilted the baby's body to free the 
shoulders. "Stop pushing! Just breathe..." The 
rest of the baby slid free, followed by blood and 
remaining fluid. Scully swept the newborn's mouth 
assuring that the airway was clear, then wrapped 
the infant in a blanket. Holding the bundle in 
one hand, she quickly applied the hemostats she 
had at the ready to two sections of the cord. 
Making the cut, she handed the baby to Leah. 
 
"It's a girl." At that, the baby began to cry. -- 
 
When Mulder couldn't stand it any longer he went 
outside. He had spent an hour walking up and down 
the long lane in the pale moonlight with Buster 
as his constant companion. Finally, Mary 
appeared at the door, "Mr. Mulder, come quick!"  
 
Mulder and Buster raced up the lane and into the 
house. Leaving his new friend at the door, he 
raced down to the basement. He opened the door to 
the bedroom to find a crowd gathered around the 
bed. He could hear faint snuffling and a soft 
cry. Scully appeared from between the Beechy 
children. Her hair was plastered to her face and 
neck. The apron she had on was covered in blood, 
saturating the nightgown beneath it. Her face was 
covered in tear tracks, sweat and a large 
exhausted smile. 
 
Mulder opened his arms and she fell into them. He 
put his chin on her head and rubbed her back. 
"Looks like you two managed just fine." 
 
The older kids cleared out leaving Obadiah and 
Beechy with Leah. Scully led Mulder over to the 
bed as a very exhausted Leah showed him her baby. 
"It's a girl," she croaked out. The baby had fine 
red hair and deep dark eyes. Obadiah was sitting 
by his mother pulling back the baby blanket to 
see his new sister. Leah softly asked, "Obadiah, 
what do you think we should name her?"  
 
The little boy looked up at his friend. "I wanna 
name her Hannah." Beechy and Leah both nodded at 
Scully. 
 
Mulder grabbed her around the waist as the tears 
began to fall down her face. "Come on. You need 
to lie down before you fall down." He took her by 
the hand and led her out of the room. 
 
Mary had thoughtfully run a warm bathtub of water 
for Scully, which she gratefully accepted. Scully 
slid under the water and would have fallen 
asleep if it had not been for Mulder finding her. 
The only nightgown she had brought was ruined. 
Mulder gave her one of his white tee shirts to 
slip on.  
 
He thought for a moment that he was going to 
have to carry her downstairs to their bed but she 
managed to get there on her own. Scully crawled 
under the quilts and immediately fell asleep. 
Mulder lingered a few minutes longer reviewing 
the events of the past few days. He had dragged 
her out on what was turning out to be a wild cow 
chase. She had to cook and clean and deliver a 
baby and for what? Out of loyalty to him. That's 
what it boiled down to. No matter the case, the 
heinous crimes being committed, the wrongs that 
needed righting, in the end she did it because 
she loved him. The occasional chance to prove him 
wrong was just icing on the cake for her, he was 
sure. 
 

Saturday August 10

Beechy and the boys didn't go to the fields that 
day. They worked around the barn. The doctor 
finally arrived to pronounce everyone was fine. 
 
  
 
Later that afternoon Scully finally awoke. She 
felt slightly disoriented, the events of the last 
few days had all run together in her mind. She 
got out of bed and dressed. Coming out of the 
bathroom she met Mulder. "I was just coming to 
check on you." Scully yawned, "What's going on?" 
 
Mulder leaned against the stair railing. "The 
doctor was here, everyone's fine." 
 
"That's good," Scully nodded as she started down 
the stairs.  
 
Mulder grabbed her wrist. "You hungry?" Scully 
leaned over the railing. "I need some coffee 
first then eat." Mulder didn't release her wrist 
but stepped around the railing behind her. "Let's 
go out for dinner." 
 
Scully leaned back into him. "Where would we go?" 
Mulder placed his hand on her back and began 
walking downstairs. "Ferns."  
 
"Great!" Scully replied. "I don't have to cook." 
 
"I know!" Mulder laughed. 
 
Beechy sent the family to Fern's for supper. The 
boys hitched Pat and Star to the buggy and off 
they all went. Mary promised Beechy she would 
bring supper back for him and Leah. The ride to  
the diner was a happy one with the kids all 
chatting about the newest member of their 
family. Mulder and Scully sat in the back of the 
buggy taking it all in.  
 
The moment they got to Fern's the older kids went 
off to sit with their friends and tell them the 
good news. Mulder and Scully sat at a small 
table with Obadiah. Soon heaping plates of 
chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes and buttered 
homemade bread was set in front of them. Mary 
came over and told Scully that they would be 
going home with their friends but she would drop 
her folks supper off first.  
 
Obadiah was table-hopping, telling the family 
friends about his new sister. Scully was well fed 
and for once, thanks to the air conditioner, 
cool. She sipped her coffee while Mulder ate a 
large piece of German Chocolate pie. She knew 
they hadn't solved the case and it began to look 
like they wouldn't, but she had learned so much 
in the past week about the Amish, about family, 
about Mulder and best of all about herself. 
 
Obadiah came over to their table and Scully 
lifted him up onto her lap. He hugged her around 
the neck and she hugged him back. He was so 
honest with his emotions, she thought she could 
learn something from this small boy. 
 
Mulder paid the bill and unhitched the team from 
the post. He had learned to handle the buggy 
well enough to suggest they take a ride through 
the countryside. Scully stepped up into the 
buggy; instead of sitting in the back seat 
Obadiah crawled over the seat to sit next to 
her. Mulder got in the buggy and looked down at 
the kid sitting next to him. He had always 
worried Scully would lose her heart to another 
man, he just thought he would be over eight years 
old.  
 
Mulder slapped the reins and Pat and Star headed 
down State Road 5. The buggy turned the next 
corner and went past the crime scene but Mulder 
didn't stop. There was no use in looking for 
what wasn't there. It was time to make some 
decisions about the things they had seen, and go 
home. 
 
They passed a white farmhouse with kerosene lamps 
hung in the windows. Children played outside near 
a large family garden. The buggy had just passed 
the next crossroads when a car roared up behind 
them and pulled around them close enough to scare  
the horses. Mulder managed to bring them under 
control while the car left clouds of dust in the 
loose gravel as it drove off. 
 
As the dust was clearing Mulder saw the car 
headed for them. It skidded to a stop in front of 
them, blocking the road. The horses reared up 
but once again Mulder was able to handle them. 
The car door swung open and out stepped a man. 
Mulder sized him up and figured he was about 5' 
8" tall, maybe 160 pounds and in his late twenties. 
He had on jeans and a work shirt from a garage, with 
the name 'John' on the pocket, and a large buck 
knife strapped to his leg. Mulder glanced at 
Scully and went for his gun, but he hadn't been 
carrying it undercover.  
 
Another man close in build to the first got out 
of the other side of the car. He walked up to 
Scully's side and leaned in the buggy, leering at 
Scully and said, "Howdy folks." John just stood 
next to the car and watched his friend.  
 
"Hello," Mulder replied as he glanced over at 
Scully and Obadiah. The boy looked scared.  
 
"You folks know you was in our way?" 
 
"We're sorry." Scully said. 
 
"That don't cut it!" The guy snapped. 
 
John let out a harsh bark of laughter. "You tell 
'em, Ray." 
 
Mulder was getting pissed. "We pay our taxes, we 
have every right to use this road." 
 
Ray ran his fingers over Scully's hand and said, 
"I don't give a fuck what you're rights are, you 
was in our way!"  
 
John began to laugh, but made no move to leave 
his position, leaning against the car. Mulder 
looked around for any possible help but all he 
saw was wheat to the left and cows in the pasture 
on the right. The road was narrow with no houses 
on it.  
 
Ray grabbed Scully's hand, an ugly look 
blanketing his features. "Hey bitch, is it true 
that you girls don't wear anything under those 
dresses?"  
 
Mulder went from angry to blind fury in a flash. 
He knew Scully was in danger, and turned to leap 
from the buggy. As his feet hit the ground, John 
was there and took a swing. His fist connected 
with Mulder's right cheek, knocking him into the 
side of the buggy. 
 
Before he could recover, John shoved him to the 
gravel road, kicking him in the ribs as he hit 
the ground. The wind hopelessly knocked out of 
him, and dazed from the beating, Mulder lie in 
the dirt. John then turned his attention to Ray, 
who had pulled Scully from the buggy and was now 
struggling with her. 
 
Scully fought her captor blindly, thinking only 
of getting to Mulder before the other man beat 
him to death. She screamed his name, placing a 
few strategic kicks but was unable to free 
herself. When she saw John come around the buggy, 
she knew this was it.  
 
Obadiah had witnessed the struggle and began to 
cry. Both men had Scully now. She was fighting 
them off as best she could. But she was rapidly 
losing ground, as they began to drag her toward 
their car. She looked over her shoulder and 
screamed to the boy, "Run! Obadiah, run!"  
 
The boy clamored out of the back of the buggy and 
started to run when he realized where they were 
taking his friend. He came to a stop, turned and 
ran toward the fence. 
 
Mulder had managed to get to his feet by 
supporting himself on the buggy wheel. With his 
eye swollen shut and fire in his ribs, he 
struggled to a standing position intent on 
getting to Scully before the men left with her. 
 
Obadiah made it to the fence where the cows were 
grazing and looked at them. Suddenly Mulder saw a 
large Holstein rise up and fly toward the car. He 
yelled, "Scully get down!" Scully managed to 
twist out of the grasp of the men and fall to the 
gravel road just as the cow slammed into the 
pair.  
 
I would laugh, if it didn't hurt so much, Mulder 
thought. The unsuspecting bovine missile took out 
both men with one shot. Squashed up against the 
car, grabby hands Ray was out cold, falling like 
a sack of rocks to the ground. John, who used 
Mulder's ribcage for field goal practice was not 
so lucky. He also lie on the road, next to his 
prone companion but he was still conscious. 
Judging from the moaning and blubbering he was  
doing, John was severely injured. Mulder looked 
over at Obadiah. "You did good kid," he said as 
he allowed himself to slide to the ground.  
 
Scully found some rope and a roll of duct tape in 
the trunk and tightly bound both men and left them 
sitting beside the car. She helped Mulder back 
into the buggy and he managed to get them back 
to Fern's where they called the police. 
 
Within minutes the Lagrange County sheriffs 
department was on scene. It turned out both men 
were wanted on outstanding felony warrants and 
they were suspected in the rapes of six Amish 
woman over the past year. Mulder was being 
checked out by an EMS technician but he refused 
transport. Scully was full of abrasions from the 
gravel but she too signed off.  
 
Jacob Yoder came by and took the buggy home while 
Mulder and Scully made their statements. Scully 
saw Mulder take an Indiana State Police 
detective aside and talk to him. He pulled out 
his wallet and she was positive his FBI ID had just 
been flashed. He pointed over to her. The 
detective glanced her way and nodded. The two men 
talked a few more minutes and then Mulder patted 
him on the back and hobbled over to the rear of 
the EMS where she sat with Obadiah. "Come on you 
two. We're getting a lift home." Mulder took 
Scully by the elbow while she held Obadiah's 
hand. 
 
The State Police cruiser pulled up in front of 
the Beechy home, the agents exited slowly, 
mindful of their injuries. Obadiah was unusually 
quiet, being overwhelmed by both the incident and 
getting his first ride in a car. 
 
Mulder leaned back in and thanked the officer, 
shaking his hand before shutting the car door.  
 
Beechy was standing on the porch. Obadiah ran to 
his father, jumped into his arms and looked back 
at Mulder and Scully. The boy's face was filled 
with concern as he watched Mulder limp up the 
porch steps supported by Scully. 
 
Beechy held the door open then followed them in 
to the living room, still holding his son. Scully 
led Mulder to the couch where she helped him 
lower to sit, groaning all the way down. Scully 
sat down gingerly next to him. Both agents were 
dirty and bandaged. They sat with their 
shoulders slumped. 
 
Beechy sat down across from them. Obadiah 
immediately crawled off his father's lap and 
began playing with his toys. Beechy spoke first. 
"I heard what happened." 
 
Mulder nodded. "Did you hear how it ended?" 
 
"They said a cow trampled those two." 
 
"Not exactly. The cow flew through the air, 
pinning them against the car," Mulder said 
lowering his voice. 
 
"Who knows what might have happened if it 
hadn't." Scully glanced over at Mulder, taking 
his hand and gently squeezing it. 
 
"Flying cows! Cows can't fly. That's utter 
nonsense." 
 
"They do with help from your son." Mulder looked 
into Beechy's eyes. 
 
"My son, Obadiah? What's he got to do with this?" 
 
"I'm not exactly sure but I do know he can 
levitate cattle, Agen... Hannah has witnessed it 
too." Obadiah sat on the floor playing with his 
set of farm animals oblivious to what was going 
on around him. 
 
"It's true, sir." Scully lifted her head to look 
at Beechy. 
 
"This is crazy! Ain't no man nor child that can 
do that!" Beechy was becoming exasperated. 
 
"Obadiah can." The voice came from Leah who had 
slowly crept up stairs. All eyes turned to look 
at her except for Obadiah's who was lost in his 
own world. Scully got up and helped Leah to a  
chair. 

Beechy stared at his wife in disbelief. "Why do 
you speak such nonsense, woman?" 
 
"Because it's true." Leah said as she sat down in 
the chair, looking intently at her husband. 
Scully returned to her place next to Mulder. 
 
Leah went on to explain. "Beechy, it runs in my 
family. I heard tell of my poppa having the 
gift, but it skips generations. It only shows up 
in boys about Obadiah's age and only last one 
growing season. I was relieved when David and 
Samuel didn't show any signs of this ability." 
She sighed, "Then Obadiah came along and I didn't 
know what to do." 
 
Obadiah left his toys and moved over to stand 
beside his mother. "I'm sorry Momma." His large 
eyes watching her closely for the disapproval he 
feared he would find. 
 
Leah hugged the small boy to her, relieving his 
anxieties with a soft smile. "It's okay son." 
 
Scully spoke up. "Obadiah, come here." The boy 
walked over and stood before Scully. She took his 
hands. "You saved my life and helped the police 
catch two very bad men." She brushed the hair out 
of his eyes. 
 
He smiled up at her. "Hannah, they were gonna 
take you 'way like Thomas. I miss Thomas."  
 
"I know you do." Scully kissed his head and 
hugged him. "But you mustn't make the cows float 
again, okay? I would be very sad if you were 
hurt. Promise me?" 
 
Obadiah looked her in the eyes. "Okay Hannah, I 
promise."  
 
Beechy looked at Leah. Leah smiled at him and 
said, "Beechy it's called Ovan Akta."  
 
Mulder looked at her nodding his head and said, 
"Swedish for Unusual gift." Scully turned a 
raised eyebrow to him. 
 
-- 
 
Later that night Mulder and Scully lay in their 
bed. Scully was on her side with her head propped 
up on her hand playing with the tape that 
covered Mulder's bruised ribs. Mulder was lying 
flat on his back with a hand resting on his 
stomach. "Mulder, how did you know what Ovan 
Akta meant?"  
 
"I've read about it. Ovan Akta was mentioned in 
an article on Jacob Ammon, founder of the Amish. 
See, most of the Amish was originally from 
Sweden. They formed when the church split into 
the Amish and the Mennonites, depending on whom 
they followed. I just didn't know what the 
'unusual gift' was until now. 
 
Scully sighed. "So what do we do now?"  
 
Mulder took her hand in his. "We head back to 
D.C. tomorrow." 
 
"And what about Obadiah?" 
 
"You heard Leah, it only lasts one growing 
season, and this season will be over soon." 
 
Scully laid her head on the soft pillow of 
Mulder's arm. "I just wish I could do more," she 
sighed. 
 
Mulder ran his hand down her arm. "You will." He 
kissed her head. "I have faith in you." Mulder 
reached over to turn out the oil lamp. 
 
-- 
 
Sunday Aug 11th 
 
The next morning found Mulder and Scully up and 
packed. Mulder told Beechy of their intention to 
return to Pennsylvania. Beechy had David hitch 
up the team to take them to the bus stop. 
 
Scully carried a suitcase outside and sat it on 
the ground. She turned, squinting at the bright 
sun, taking a long look at the houses. She closed 
her eyes briefly, then reentered the house. She 
followed the stairs up to the master bedroom,  
softly knocking on the door. Leah called to her, 
and she opened the door to find Obadiah sitting 
with his mother. They were looking at the baby 
Leah held in her arms. Leah looked up at Scully, 
"Beechy tells me you're leaving."  
 
"Yes. We're needed back home." Scully trailed a 
finger softly down the baby's cheek, memorizing 
her tiny features. 
 
"I'll miss you Hannah, but I think there's 
someone here who will miss you even more." 
Obadiah climbed off the bed and ran around it to 
hug Scully. She bent down and held the small boy 
tightly to her as tears washed over her face. 
 
She pushed him back and looked at him, letting 
out a tear choked giggle. Mulder and Beechy came 
in. Scully stood up and patted Obadiah's head. 
"How do you spell cow?" 
 
"C-O-W, cows!" The boy piped up.  
 
"And dog?"  
 
"D-O-G, dog!" He grinned at her. 
 
Mulder smiled at Scully as she pulled a small 
card out of her pocket. She wiped her eyes on her 
sleeve and laughed in embarrassment. She handed 
the card to Leah as she sat down on the edge of 
the bed. "Leah, this card is from a friend of 
mine, Dana Scully." 
 
Mulder stared at her wide-eyed, but said nothing 
as Scully continued. "She works for the FBI in 
Washington, D.C. and is going to find a school 
here that will give Obadiah the attention he 
needs." 
 
Beechy moved over to the bed to look at the card 
that Leah held in her hand. Scully ran her tongue 
across her bottom lip. "He isn't slow Beechy. He 
has a learning disability. My guess is he could 
be helped and then placed back into your school 
system with the other kids." 
 
Leah called her son over. "Hear that Obadiah, you 
might get to go to school after all." 
 
The boys' face lit up, "Really Momma?" 
 
Scully leaned down and ran her fingers over the 
baby's  downy-soft head. "You take care of little 
Hannah here." 
 
"Oh we will." Leah smiled. -- 
 
Beechy and Obadiah accompanied Mulder and Scully 
to the buggy that would take them back to 
Shipshewana. Scully put her purse on the back 
seat and turned to Obadiah. She squatted down and 
held out her arms. The boy ran to her. "I'm 
gonna miss you!" she softly said, kissing the 
small boy on the cheek. 
 
"Me too." Obadiah smiled at her. 
 
Scully took his face into her hands. "I'm going 
to write to your momma and ask how you're doing." 
 
"'k" The boy grinned at her. She released him and 
turned to climb into the buggy. 
 
She looked out the side window, "And Obadiah, no 
more flying cows." She smiled. 
 
"Okay, Hannah!" He yelled back to her as he 
turned to run barefooted down the cow path with 
Buster at his side. 
 
Mulder thrust out his hand. "Beechy."  
 
Beechy grasp Mulder hand and arm. "Mulder, it's 
been nice having you here." 
 
"Sorry about the team." Mulder grinned 
sheepishly. 
 
"That's okay. I have the cleanest bean field in 
the county now." Beechy laughed. 
 
Mulder stepped up into the buggy and sat down 
next to Scully. David climbed in and took the 
reins. Soon Pat and Star were headed down the 
lane. Beechy waved from the front porch and  
turned to go into the house. 
 
Scully took a Kleenex out of her purse and 
noisily blew her nose. Mulder started to laugh 
but his ribs hurt too much. 
 
David pulled into the parking lot at Yoder's 
department store. He brought the horses to a stop 
and got down to help Scully out of the buggy. He 
gathered up their bags and sat them in a pile 
near them. Mulder shook the boys' hand and patted 
him on the back. He then ran his hand over Star's 
slick back and patted the horse as she fell in 
step with Pat. David waved as he started out the 
parking lot. 
 
Around the corner of the department store came an 
Indiana State Police car. Scully got in the 
cruiser while the trooper loaded their bags into 
the trunk. Mulder moved around the car and pulled 
the other rear door open. He gingerly sat down, 
pulling in his long legs. They were soon on US 
highway 20 headed to Michiana Regional airport in 
South Bend. They both changed clothes in the 
security room at the airport and boarded a flight 
bound for D.C. -- 
 


Epilogue 
 
Two days later Special Agents Dana Scully and Fox 
Mulder were seated before A.D. Walter Skinner in 
his office. Skinner adjusted his glasses and 
after scanning the last page of the agents 
report, flipped it shut. "So you were able to 
confirm that Federal Forestry Agent Joe Warren 
was indeed killed by a cow?" 
 
Mulder looked Skinner straight in the eyes. "Yes, 
sir." 
 
Skinner added. "And it would appear that you 
apprehended two men behind a series of brutal 
rapes in the Northeastern Indiana's Amish 
Community." 
 
"Yes, sir," Scully answered. 
 
Skinner folded his hands together over the 
report. "Good work agents." Both agents nodded 
and rose from their chairs to leave. 
 
Scully had just stepped through the open door 
when Skinner called out. "Oh, and Agent Mulder." 
 
Mulder turned. "Yes, sir?" 
 
"Lose the beard." 
 
"Yes, sir." 
 
They continued down the hall. Scully smirked up 
at her bearded partner. "Told you so." 
 
"He just suffers from follicle jealousy." 
 
                   ~ The End ~ 
 
 
 
 Notes: I live in the heart of Northeastern 
Indiana's Amish country and have always felt 
there had to be an X File lurking there.  
FoxfireX and myself were on a chat one night 
acting silly when we came up with flying cows. 
(I've always loved the cow scene from Rain King) 
We did a little research on the Amish and their 
traditions and wove them into the story. I hope 
we have shown these gentle souls in a good light 
and if not, no harm was intended. They are good 
people who are true to their faith and not 
sideshow amusements for tourist enjoyment. The 
Asian beetle was a real threat. All the Amish 
first and last names we used are real, but not 
these particular individuals. The dogs' and 
horses' names are also those chosen by Amish. 
There is a new birthing center in Lagrange County 
and haystack suppers really are held. The food is 
all authentic Amish cuisine. Of course the X 
File is fictional and as far as I know Amish cows 
do not fly. To my partner in fanfiction FoxfireX, 
as soon as you came in off the ledge and realized 
we could do this, it turned into a wildly fun 
project. I can do the skeletal part of a story, 
but it takes you to flesh it out and make it 
readable, and you were the one to find that 
wonderful title 'Ovan Akta' in your research. One 
more thing, Fern's does exist, and the noodles 
are great! GG7 
 
 More Notes: We did it, Geeg! I'm really glad I 
came in off that ledge to finish it, it was a 
great ride. You have the ability to come up with 
the greatest story ideas that are always tinged 
with humor. The nights were sometimes long, but 
it was worth it (even that night you suggested I 
go out and paint one of my cows for the picture). 
I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know 
the Amish in more detail, they have facets to 
their lives and faith that I would never have 
fathomed. 
 
Oh, and no cows were injured in the making of 
this story.  Although there should be a law about 
injuring Mulder so often. FoxfireX