For a minute or two, Cornelia and Gerrit sat together in her front hall. He gazed at her beautiful heart-shaped face, dirt and tear-stained. He brushed her leg and discovered the filthy bandage. “You are hurt.”
“As I was on my way to the second delivery, a convoy of German trucks appeared, chased by Allied planes. Either a bullet grazed me or I was scraped by some debris.”
“You were shot at?” A ripple of shock streaked across his chest.
“I ran for the ditch and flattened myself as much as possible. I didn’t dare move. I have never been so frightened in all my life.” She shivered.
He rubbed her arms. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”
“I’m not.”
He shook his head. “You’re glad Allied planes shot at you?”
“Ja.”
“Why?”
“I lay there in the ditch, unable to move or think. But I could pray, and I prayed more than I did that first night in Nijmegen. I had never been in so much danger. Psalm 56, the one you taught me, came to mind. And do you know what?”
He desperately wanted to know.
“God gave me this incredible calmness and serenity. He took away my fear. All of it. Whether I lived or I died, God’s will would be done, and I was at peace.”
“You weren’t afraid?”
“I wasn’t. All those soldiers died on the road there. I held the hand of one as he passed into glory.”
Gerrit wrapped her in his arms. “I want to make this nightmare end for you. For all of us.”
She traced the outline of his lips with the tip of her thumb. “I learned something else out there today.”
All rational thought fled. “What?”
Just as she opened her mouth to tell him, someone thundered down the stairs.
“ANKI.” CORNELIA STOOD, her hand over her heart.
Her sister flew the rest of the way down the hall. “Gerrit! Corrie found you.”
“I hear I have you to thank for the tip.”
“I stopped by to tell you that Johan joined the Canadian troops when they went past on the road. The shelling prevented me from going farther.”
“Johan did what?” Cornelia swayed on her feet.
Gerrit’s strong arms supported her. “Let’s have Anki look at your leg and then we will get you something to eat. Johan needs to do this.”
She let him lead her to the kitchen while Anki drew the blackout curtains. The explosions continued in the distance. Each one reminded her of Johan, fighting their oppressors.
Gerrit slid her into a chair and kissed her forehead. “You look like you’ve had a tough day.”
The surge of energy that kept her going from first thing this morning tapped out and she sank against the chair’s back. “I can’t believe all that happened.” She had been interrogated by two soldiers, was shot at by the Allies, held a boy’s hand as he died . . .
She drew Rolf’s soldbuch from her pocket. “Look at this.”
Gerrit took it and examined it. Anki leaned over his shoulder. “Where did you get it?”
“This belongs to the boy whose hand I held as he died. And that’s all he was. Like Johan, just a boy.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
A closer burst shook the little house. She clasped her hands to prevent them from shaking.
Gerrit rubbed her knee.
“I reminded him of his childhood faith. He told me he saw heaven.”
“What a beautiful sight that must have been.” Anki wept beside them.
“I took this so I could write and tell his parents about his final moments. They will want to know.” Would someone do that for them if Johan died?
Her sister wiped her tears. “That’s a good thing to do.”
They all fell silent while the air around them buzzed. Gerrit sat beside her, not quite touching her. She felt his presence nonetheless.
“I’m proud of you.”
She studied his strong, square jaw. “God turned back my enemies, just as He promised. He gave me the courage of Daniel and his three friends combined. I don’t know how else to explain where my bravery came from.”
“Because there is no other explanation.”
“You’re right. I acted not in my own strength, but in the Lord’s. That is how I want to live my life.” She looked between her sister and the man she loved.
Gerrit smiled at her and the warmth of it drove away the chill. “That’s how we all need to live.”
Anki nodded. “I want to clean you up and examine your leg. Gerrit, can you move her to the chair in the front room?”
Again he scooped her into his capable arms. She nestled against him, listening to the steady beat of his heart. Ach, did she love him.
He remained next to her as Anki cleaned and dressed her wound, then went to the kitchen to prepare a small meal. The percussion of explosives continued every few minutes, drawing closer and closer.
When Anki left them alone, Gerrit pulled Cornelia against his side and rested his head on top of hers. “I love you, Cornelia.”
Her body relaxed at his words. She had come home.
Anki entered the room with some bread and coffee.
Cornelia ate the food, Gerrit beside her the entire time. The weight of fatigue fell heavy on her, and she had a difficult time finishing. She set her empty cup on the floor and rested her head on his shoulder.
The last thing she remembered was the smell of his line-dried shirt.
CORNELIA’S BREATHING TURNED soft and even. Gerrit didn’t dare move, not wanting to wake her. The fine lines caused by hard years of war faded and serenity softened her face.
This is what he wanted, every day for the rest of his life. How could he convince her that she could trust him with all of her heart? That he wanted her fully and wholly?
When Anki came down the stairs, Cornelia had been about to tell him something she had learned today. He wondered what that might be.
Could she have been about to utter the words he longed to hear from her?
His emotions agitated inside of him. Mostly he, too, was worn out. Five years of war had taken their toll. More than anything, he wanted it all to be over. All the fighting, all the loss, all the uncertainty.
He leaned back on the davenport and drifted off. He dreamed that Cornelia picked him a sunset-red, fully opened tulip. She handed it to him.
A loud detonation jolted him awake. Cornelia sat up with a start. “What was that?”
He missed the warmth of her against him. A succession of explosions answered. “Freedom.” The house shook and the windows vibrated from the force. Another burst and they shook even more, threatening to shatter. “Get to the hall. Away from the windows.”
They picked up davenport pillows to cover their heads from any debris that might fall and hurried to safety. Anki raced down the stairs. Together the three of them sat on the floor, huddled under pillows, their knees drawn to their chests.
And waited.
Cornelia scooted closer to him. “At least this time I’m not waiting alone.”
He grasped her cold hand. “You don’t ever have to be alone again.”
The rat-a-tat-tat of machine-gun fire pierced the air. The smell of smoke drifted under the door.
They sat without speaking while the battle for the bridge continued outside the door.
He wondered about Bear and Maarten and prayed for their safety. With the Allies closing in, Gerrit hated to think about what the Gestapo would do to their prisoners.
He prayed for Johan, too, in the midst of the fighting. Cornelia needed him to return alive.
A burst of light illuminated the gloom, filtering around the edges of the blackout curtains. Immediately, a gigantic boom followed, rattling the dishes in the cupboards, glass crashing to the floor as the entire house shook. He gripped his pillow tighter over his head while Cornelia cowered lower beside him, Pepper on her lap. Plaster rained around them.
She squeezed his hand. “What was that?”
“I think someone tried to blow up the bridge. Either the Germans are trying to prevent the Canadians from getting into town, or the Canadians are trying to prevent the Germans from escaping.”
A few more rounds of gunfire popped.
Then came silence.
Gerrit held his breath. Judging by Cornelia’s stillness, she must be holding hers too.
Several minutes of quiet passed. Then several more. They sat for a long time before vehicles rumbled past.
Cornelia leaned over, her breath tickling his neck. “Do you think it’s over?”
“Stay here. Keep the pillow over your head.”
She didn’t follow as he made his way to the front window, the one that overlooked the canal. He lifted the corner of the shade, bright sunlight illuminating the scene.
Smoke rose near the bridge, but it remained intact. Whoever had tried to blow it up had been unsuccessful.
And then he saw the most glorious sight of his entire life.
“Cornelia! Anki! Come quickly.”
“WHAT’S WRONG?” CORNELIA fought off a wave of panic, having held an entire ocean of fear at bay during the battle. But Gerrit’s words held an almost euphoric tone.
Anki ran to another window while Cornelia limped to his side. He had thrown the blackout curtain open. “Look.”
Tanks processed across the bridge and down the narrow street.
Tanks bearing a white flag with a red maple leaf.
But this wasn’t like the opening days of the war. Everywhere, people poured out of their homes. These victorious soldiers sat high above their vehicles, the covers hanging open, their guns held over their heads.
Cheers arose. She had to see this up close, had to be a part of it to believe it. “Let’s go.”
Hand in hand, Gerrit and Cornelia crossed the bridge, Anki behind them, the peaceful water not stirring. Men who hadn’t seen the light of day in years emerged from their homes, blinking in the morning’s bright sunlight. Women cried and boys chased each other on the clogged sidewalks.
They continued following their liberators into the heart of town. Orange flags, red, white, and blue Dutch flags, and lily-speckled Frisian flags flapped in the breeze, publicly displayed again after a long absence.
Couples kissed on their doorsteps.
Perched on top of one of the tanks, surrounded by Canadian soldiers, Johan waved to them. Cornelia jumped up and down and waved to her brother.
A thin man, half a head taller than the rest of the crowd, pushed through the throng toward them. Neumann had been true to his word. Maarten had survived.
They stopped in front of the deserted bookseller’s shop, the man who owned it taken long ago, a reminder that things would never be the same as they once were. She studied Gerrit’s strong profile, his distinctive Dutch nose.
For each of them, the war had changed their lives forever.
Nee, life could be wonderful.
She pulled Gerrit away from the street and the cheering throng, back against the stone of the building. The time had come. The time to let go of the past, of the fear and the darkness.
A time for the snow to melt from the tulips.
“I didn’t finish telling you what I learned yesterday.”
He gazed down at her. His deep blue eyes told her all she needed to know.
THE CHEERS AND merriment of the crowd faded from Gerrit’s consciousness. He saw and heard only Cornelia, even though she didn’t say a word.
His heart slowed. “What did you want to tell me?”
“This.” She stood on her tiptoes, leaned forward, and kissed him. Her soft, yielding lips spoke to him with fervor and passion, holding nothing back.
In that moment, it happened.
She gave him her whole heart.
“I love you, Gerrit.”
In the shop’s flower box, a single deep crimson tulip had raised its head.