The Rose of De Haas

Chapter 47: The Whiteness of Goodness

The gripping silence now accompanied Cecilion who could only remain silent in his hiding place. The man was silent, letting the silence swallow him until he could hear the sound of his heartbeat so clearly.

Traces of tears that wet both cheeks he hastily removed using the back of the hand, did not want him to look weak.

All the doors and windows in the Van der Linen family house had indeed been locked, but of course Cecilion knew that the Nippon soldiers were very cruel and reckless.

With his heart beating twice as fast, Cecilion clasped tightly onto the firearm in his hand.

There was nothing Cecilion was thinking about now but a way to save his wife and the child he was carrying. Whatever happens, Cecilion just wants those he loves to be able to leave safely.

As the sunlight began to rise in the eastern horizon, shining on the earth Nusantara the voice feared by Cecilion finally sounded.

The roar of the car engine was clearly heard in front of the Van der Linen family residence, adding to the tense tension in Cecilion.

The man closed his eyes, began to pray back to the Almighty to grant at least one of the many prayers he had prayed.

"Is this house Dutch?"

"Looks yes. But the house looks deserted."

Cecilion's vegetables could hear the voices of people conversing in front of the main door of his house in Japanese which he fortunately could understand.

"We'd better break it down, who knows if anyone's in this house."

"Don't do anything in vain! We better continue our mission."

"He's right. We can waste time if we don't want to deal with the commander's anger."

"Yes, let's move in the other direction!"

Cecilion sighed as he heard those people's conversations.

The roar of the military car engine was then heard again, away from the Van der Linen family residence.

"I have to be careful and wait for a while, who knows they changed their mind and came back here," muttered Cecilion, again reaching for his weapon after he had placed it on the floor.

After he was sure that the sound of the car being driven by the Nippon soldiers had completely disappeared, he stepped in a hurry towards his room, take a bag of cash that he had prepared in an emergency like this.

Quickly Cecilion then shuffled towards the warehouse where his wife and Sumi were hiding.

They must leave this house immediately if they do not want to die at the hands of the ruthless soldiers at all costs.

Arriving at the warehouse door, Cecilion knocked on the wooden door leaf.

"My wife, let's open the door quickly we need to get out of here!" call Cecilion with a voice that he holds so as not to be heard outside the house.

Rose stuck her ear to the door of the closet, trying to recognize the voice she had just heard afraid that it was not really the voice of her husband she had been waiting for.

"Rose Van der Linen, quickly open the door! We have to leave!" Cecilion exclaimed once more in a stifled voice.

After being sure it was really the voice of the husband, Rose thoughtlessly came out of the closet where he was hiding.

The woman then sends Sumi out, helping her find the key to the warehouse.

Sumi scoured every inch of the warehouse floor, looking for the whereabouts of the metal key so they could escape from here.

"This is the key, ma'am! Go, hurry!" sumi exclaimed in a stifled voice, grabbing the Madam's wrist to immediately follow in her footsteps so that they could get out of here immediately and escape to a safer place.

The door opened, until Rose and Cecilion felt a little relieved to be back together.

"We must leave immediately, quickly, we go through the back door only," said Cecilion as he led the way to the back door.

Behind the Van der Linen family house there is a Rose vegetable garden which fortunately also has a large tree and some shrubs that can be used to hide temporarily.

In addition, not far from their homes there are large enough tributaries that can be the safest route to escape to other regions rather than using land routes.

"Mr and Madam! Come here!" call Mr. Jujuk, one of their neighbors who happened to be on the river bank.

"What's up, sir?" cecilion asked as he ran over to Pak Jujuk, one of the indigenous elders in their neighborhood.

"Go with my fishing boat, Mr and Mrs. Get quick! I'm sure the soldiers will be back soon" the middle-aged man said, pointing to his reclining fishing boat.

"What about Father?" ask the Rose who is almost crying.

Roses are so afraid and sad, there is not much he can do in this gripping situation until he has difficulty controlling himself.

"I'm sure it won't be anything, ma'am. They are all just hunting Dutch people like the two of you" said Mr. Jejuk.

"So I think Mr and Mrs need the boat more than I do. So you both have to go as far as possible with the boat" added Mr. Jejuk.

Without a second thought, Cecilion handed over some banknotes from his bag to Pak Jujuk as compensation.

"Thank you for the help, sir. I'll take my wife as far away as possible and find a safe place" Cecilion said later.

"I don't need this money, sir. I sincerely help Mr and Mrs who have always treated me well" replied Mr. Jejuk.

"Please take the money, sir. We will go straight away, once again thank you very much for the help, Mr. Jejujuk," said Roses.

The man simply nodded, helping the young couple to board his fishing boat. Luckily, the boat had an oil-based engine whose tank was fully loaded with one spare fuel jerrycan in the corner of the boat.

This boat is safe enough for them to ride, especially having a roof that can slightly protect them from rain or hot sunlight.

Mr. Jejujuk then explained briefly to Cecilion how the boat operated, how to control and turn off the boat engine properly and correctly.

"Again, thank you very much, Mr. Jejuk. We will never forget the goodness of the Father" said Cecilion full of sincerity.

"It's not a problem, sir. Be careful and always take care of Mrs Van der Linen. I hope you both can safely arrive at your destination" Mr. Jejujuk smiled gently, typical of a father.

"Mr and Madam, be careful on the road. I'll just get you both here because I have to make sure my parents are safe first or not" Sumi said with a heavy heart.

However, Sumi has a Mother and Father who still live in the village not far from the Van der Linen family residence.

"Well if that's your decision, Sumi. I hope we can meet again on another occasion," concluded Rose.

"Be careful always, Madam and Master. I hope God will always protect every step of the two of you," Sumi could not help but cry.

The young lady did not expect, today would come, the day where she had to part with the Master and Madam who were as good as Van der Linen's couple.

He could only pray for all the good and safety for his two masters.

"We go first, Mr. Jujuk, Sumi. Take care of yourself" closed Cecilion after he and Rose had boarded the fishing boat.

The boat engine lit up, a sign they would soon be going through a long journey for the second time but this time with much greater hope and weight in their hearts.