Chapter 9 - Tilly

Tilly Joris wakes up to the sound of church bells on a Sunday. Despite the war noises, the bells continue to ring. His family is having a feast for breakfast. Uncle Cor suggests dressing up as a girl to escape and they go to mass. Tilly is worried about going to a Catholic church, but Uncle Cor reassures him. After mass, they meet Liendert who offers them a ride to Leyden on his motorbike. Chapter 9, Tilly Joris woke up to the sound of church bells tolling over the fields, summoning people to church. Sunday, of course. According to Mother, the bells were saying, Peace, I leave you. My peace, I give unto you. The roaring bombers and anti-aircraft guns tried to drown out the music of the bells, but Joris knew, as he lay listening, which of the two sounds would win. The war noises came and went. Often they stopped, too violent to laugh. The bells went steadily on, like breathing. Bing-bong, bing-bong. He smelled food. Mother was frying potato cakes for breakfast, and there were eggs, too, and some smoked sausage she had been saving for an important occasion. There was also a strong aroma of acorn coffee. What a feast! Joris jumped out of bed and then remembered he had no clothes on. They had been taken to the kitchen to dry. The family were sitting together in the small kitchen when Joris appeared, wrapped in a sheet, and asked for his clothes. There was general laughter. Charles looked up from his plate of meat and eggs on which he was feasting. He had given the other men his excellent razor blade, so Father and Uncle Cor had as smooth, rosy cheeks this morning as Charles himself, and there was a delicious and unfamiliar smell of soap. Mother was radiant, for Charles had let her keep what was left of his piece of toilet soap. Joris immediately showed enthusiasm for washing with this novelty, but Mother stood by, watching anxiously that he didn't use too much. Trixie had made friends with her new Uncle Charles, and soon was sitting on his lap. He found the forgotten peppermint in his pocket, and she was ecstatically sucking it, taking it out of her mouth now and then to show them. But when Dirk Jan and Joris tasted her ripe and tending to want it, she hastily popped it back into her mouth. Uncle Cor rubbed his hands with a pleased look. He enjoyed visiting his sister's family. It was the only home life he had nowadays, but there wasn't time to dawdle. We've got to get going, he warned. It's a good thing it's Sunday. That will make it easier to get away. We'll dress Charles up as a pretty girl, and then we'll go to mass with you people. That will establish us as respectable burglars. Isn't that too dangerous? asked Mother, coffee pot in hand. Uncle Cor smiled again. Everything is dangerous, he said. It's dangerous just sitting here. One of those airplanes overhead might fall on us, or a stove might explode. The best thing is to grasp the nettle. No one would believe that an escaping aviator would go to church. That's why it's our best bet. Maybe we could get a lift from some farmer to Leyden, where our organization will look after Charles. A lift in what? said Father, dryly. Some horse and cart, said Uncle Cor, hopefully. Precious few horses left, commented Father, but there might be an odd one. We'll take the odd one, decided Uncle Cor. I'll disguise myself too. We'll be distant cousins who are visiting you. I'll be Cloris, and Charles will be my sister, Tilly. The dressing up was fun. Uncle Cor had a makeup kit and glued a red walrus mustache on his upper lip. On his nose, he put a large horn-rimmed spectacle. But it was Charles who changed most. He put on Mother's Sunday dress, dark blue with polka dots. Over it, he draped a pink woolen shawl. He tied a kerchief around his head, and Mother cut off a few of her blonde curls that she sewed to the inside of the kerchief. Now it looked as if stray locks were escaping from a wild head full of hair. The shoes were hardest. Mother's only leather pair did not fit him, but people wore such odd things on their feet nowadays that Charles's clumsy boots would have to do. Mother cleaned them with the shoe polish Charles gave her. Then Mother applied makeup to Charles's face. With rogue eye shadow, lipstick, and a figure made by stuffing in some old towels under the dress, Tilly looked like a bell. Mother had been to an early mass and was going to stay home with Trixie. She clung for a moment to her brother. Take care of yourself, she whispered into his overcoat. He took her face between his big hands. As if that mattered, he whispered back. Just pray that I won't fail. And so they walked over the dike. No one could have guessed that two hunted men were among the families, sauntering so nonchalantly to church. But something was bothering Tilly. He pushed at Uncle Cor's sleeve. I say, he remarked, his voice harsh and masculine under his dancing curls, I am not a Roman Catholic. Oh. Uncle Cor stopped short. Do you object to going to mass? No, no, answered Tilly, shaking his curls so that Doris feared they'd drop off. I go sometimes to midnight mass at Christmas. I'm an Anglican, only I might be doing the wrong thing. Just watch me, said Uncle Cor. We'll stand at the back where you won't be noticed. Tilly heaved a sigh. You've been trained as an aviator, not an actor, but it was a beautiful sunny morning with the fresh smell of autumn and Tilly took heart. He'd do his best. Now remember, Uncle Cor warned them as they were approaching the village, not a word out of you. If necessary, I'll explain that you just had your tonsils out. Tilly nodded solemnly. There was a clip-clopping on the cobblestones. As people hurried to mass, rows of wooden shoes stood outside the church door. Father and the boys slipped off theirs too. Doris had retrieved his from underneath the bushes where he had kicked them the night before. The congregation looked curiously at the Verhagens as visitors, but they seemed so respectable that the glances wandered off again. Then Doris caught his breath. There was the Schienderhans family, even Liendert, parading on his motorbike, tooting his horn so everyone would notice it. Hendrik made a beeline for Doris and insisted on staying with him. Doris decided to sit as far as he could from his own family and chose a pew up front where it wasn't crowded. The trouble with Hendrik was that he could not keep still. Doris liked to follow the mass and his missile, but Hendrik kept interrupting. I didn't know you had guests. Who are they? How long are they staying? Doris was glad that he could point to the altar and shake his head. It was the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost. Father Cobus read out of the Gospel of the Good Samaritan. Then he said, I know you're all thinking, when you hear this parable of the Samaritan who was the only one to help his neighbor, that wicked priest, that selfish Levite. He would never be like him. But you're wrong. All people around us these days, people are beset by robbers. How many of you turn away saying it is dangerous to help? I have my own problems. I have a family to consider. Perhaps you are right, but perhaps the priest and the Levite had valid reasons for hurrying on too. Christ does not say they hadn't. He only says that it was the Samaritan, the heretic, the outcast, who did the loving thing. Religion is not just a matter of going to church. We must love God with our whole strength and all of our minds, and our neighbor as ourselves. But it is upon what we do to our neighbor that we shall be judged. A solemn thought. Now let us pray that we may receive strength to do the loving thing in these perilous times. Doris was thinking as he knelt down that Uncle Cor and Father and Mother need not worry. They were helping their neighbors with all their strength. After Mass, people chatted in the courtyard, the churchyard. As Doris joined his family, he saw Liendert Schienderhans sauntering towards them. You've come for me, you devil! he asked rather suspiciously. Yes, cousins, said Father briefly. Liendert looked at Uncle Cor's mustache. There's red hair in your family, huh? he remarked. The Verhagens felt uncomfortable, with Liendert alluding to Trixie. Now Liendert's eye lit on Tilly, who smiled at him. Liendert became bold. He nudged Tilly a bit and winked. Tilly winked back. Liendert thought he had never seen a more intelligent and handsome woman. Um, Dad, are you staying long, dude? he asked in an undertone. The enchanting creature shook her head, regretfully it seemed. Well, well, well. pursued Liendert. The now Uncle Cor, who had stepped aside to say some words privately, the father took in the situation. She was my sister, he said in the tone of a protective male. Tilly hung her head as if rebuked, but managed to dart another audacious wink at Liendert, who looked lightly dazed by the sudden favors of this beauty. Should I give you a lift somewhere, Dad? he asked gallantly. I've got my motorbike with the sidecar. There was a daring glint in Uncle Cor's eyes. It would do no harm, he thought. You couldn't hold a conversation on a motorbike, and they'd get there much faster. We're going to Leyden, he confessed. Schumachern proudly showed his bike, an old one, but any motorbike was an impossible luxury. Uncle Cor wondered what dreadful betrayal had purchased the favor. Liendert said that he'd be glad to take them to Leyden. His father and the boys anxiously watched as Schingerhans put putted off with the two underdivers, unconscious of their identity, or so they hoped.