The Amish farmer looked up slowly from his workbench when his wife finished speaking. “Emergency brake?” he repeated, setting his hammer down. “Aye,” she said plainly. “The officer said one of the reins was tied around the horse’s testicles. He said some might call it cruelty to animals and that thee should check it.”

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression somewhere between confusion and disbelief. The young boy standing nearby tried very hard not to giggle. Finally, the farmer cleared his throat. “Wife,” he said gently, “that is not the emergency brake.”

She frowned slightly. “It isn’t?”

“Nay,” he replied, shaking his head. “But if it were, we’d be stoppin’ mighty fast — and that horse would never forgive us.”