The Gypsy Moon (28 page)

“This looks good, Gabby. I’m starved,” Betje said as they sat down to a meal of kippers and shepherd’s pie. As they finished eating, a knock sounded at the door. Betje picked up her pistol and went to the door. “Who is it?” she called out cautiously.

“It’s me, Dai.”

Betje opened the door, and Dai grinned when he saw the pistol. “A gun in your hand? What am I to think? And a smile on your face? Which am I to believe?”

She stepped aside so he could enter and put the gun down. Before he had time to protest, she put her arms around him and kissed him. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Gabby came into the living room when she heard his voice. She was so glad to see Dai that she ran toward him and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re back, Dai! You’re all right!”

“Yes, I am.” He looked a little embarrassed at all the attention.

“I was so worried about you. Grandmother and I prayed for you every day you were gone,” Gabby said.

“I appreciate that. I had some close calls, but I was able to see your relatives and deliver your letter,” Dai said.

“I want to hear all about it, but you must be hungry,” Gabby said. “There’s plenty of supper left.”

“I could eat a little.”

Gabby warmed the food and listened as he told her and Betje in great detail about his mission. He dug into his meal. “This is good shepherd’s pie,” he said after the first bite. “Did you make it?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a good cook.”

Gabby was pleased at his compliment but wanted to hear more about her aunt and uncle. “How are you going to get them out of Germany?”

“I’m working on that. It’s complicated, since they have him guarded all the time. They do not want to lose him. It’ll take something really believable for the Germans to let your uncle return to Holland.”

When he had finished his meal, Dai got up, saying, “I’m tired. I’ll see you ladies tomorrow.” He left, and Gabby noticed the far-off look in Betje’s eyes.

“Do you like him, Betje?” she asked quietly.

“I’d forgotten there were still decent men around,” she said slowly. “He’s got a gentleness beneath that tough exterior. I could love a man like that.” She started to say more but stopped herself and said good-night.

As Gabby cleaned up the kitchen, she reflected on the evening. When Dai had come in, she had detected more than a casual interest in his eyes, even after Betje had thrown herself at him. “He cares for me,” she whispered. “I know he does!”

****

Dai fell back into his work at the hospital, and no one seemed to have noticed his absence. He thought constantly on ways to get the Burkes back to the Netherlands, but he
kept coming up with a total blank. He became glum and kept to himself a great deal.

Gabby had not seen Erik for a while, but he wrote her a tender letter expressing his love for her.
I know things look dark,
he had said,
but I can’t believe that we won’t be together. My love for you is so strong it will not be denied.
As Gabby read the letter, she realized that the feelings she had once felt for him were gone.

Gabby was catching up on some paper work in her office on Friday when the phone rang. She picked it up. “Dr. Winslow here.”

“This is Matilda.”

“Matilda, is something wrong?”

“It’s Dorcas. She’s unconscious.”

“I’ll be there at once with an ambulance.” Gabby slammed the phone down and began issuing orders. She rode in the ambulance as they sped through the streets to Dorcas’s house. Oskar was standing outside to direct the driver as soon as they pulled up in front of the house.

“How is she?” Gabby asked as she climbed out of the ambulance.

“She’s still unconscious.”

Rushing inside, she found Matilda wringing her hands, but she went straight to her great-aunt’s room. At first she detected no movement from the small form on the bed, but when she got closer, she saw Dorcas’s chest move slightly and gave a sigh of relief. Gabby examined her thoroughly, and when she listened to the heart, she knew that the woman’s old problem had caught up with her. She had had heart problems over the past few years, and Gabby’s medical training told her there was little to be done.

When Gabby removed the stethoscope, Dorcas opened her eyes.

“How do you feel, Grandmother?”

Dorcas moved her lips almost imperceptibly. “I will not . . . go to the . . . hospital,” she said with some effort.

“But you must!” Gabby said. “We need the equipment we have there.”

“No, my dear. My time has come . . . and I want to die at home . . . with my loved ones near.”

****

Gabby did all she could to make Dorcas comfortable. On Saturday, the old woman was even weaker. Dai came to visit her, and he sat by her bed for a while, visiting quietly. At her request he sang hymns for her with his beautiful tenor voice, and then he read to her from the Bible.

When he said good-bye, he went to the kitchen to find Gabby and asked her if there was any hope for a recovery.

“None,” Gabby said. “She’s slipping away, and there’s nothing we can do.”

“She’s hungry for heaven.”

It was a strange phrase, perhaps an expression they used in Wales, she decided. “What a beautiful thing to say, Dai.”

“She’s a beautiful human being. I’ve never known anyone else like her—except for you, that is. You’re a lot like her.”

Gabby dropped her eyes and said, “That’s a beautiful compliment.”

****

The days went by, and Dorcas failed slowly but certainly. During one visit, she expressed concern for her son and daughter-in-law.

“Dai says Dalton and Liza will leave Germany as soon as they can convince the authorities to allow him to come home for a visit. We’re hoping now they will let him come soon to see you, Grandmother,” Gabby assured her. “Dai’s doing everything he can to save them.”

“Good. Then will they go to England until the war is over?”

“Yes, Grandmother. Dai has promised to see them to safety.”

“God is so good, my dear. I have prayed for them, and God sent us Dai to help them.”

Later that night Dai and Gabby were in the kitchen talking. “She’s longing to go home,” Gabby said. “She’s made all the arrangements with the pastor.”

“That’s wise, but it’s unusual, isn’t it?”

“Yes, I guess so. She’s got all the hymns picked out for the service, and she’s chosen the text. I think she’s even written out the sermon for Karel.” She smiled faintly. “It would be like her.” The two went to sit in the sickroom so they would be there when Dorcas awoke. They sat quietly until she stirred, and then both of them rose and went to the bedside.

She smiled up at them and said weakly, “I’m going to be with Jesus, so there will be no grieving.”

“We’ll be sad to see you go,” Gabby said, “but we’ll try to rejoice, knowing you’re in heaven.”

Dorcas nodded and closed her eyes.

When she opened them after a moment, Gabby said, “I know you’re worried about Dalton—”

“Not anymore.” Her grandmother reached out both hands, and Gabby and Dai each took one and held it. “They can’t refuse to let him come home . . . for his mother’s funeral.”

“But, Grandmother—”

“It’s the last thing I can do for him, and now I feel myself close to the Lord God. I will be safe in the arms of Jesus by morning.” She squeezed their hands and then put her own on her chest. “You are my pride, Gabby, and it is not sinful to have pride like this.” She took a couple shallow breaths. “You will serve the Lord, my precious child, all of your life.”

She turned to face Dai, who leaned over to catch her words, which were becoming more difficult to hear. “And you, my son . . . will watch over her and care for her . . . and see that she comes to no harm.”

“I promise, Grandmother.”

Dorcas spoke a few words of thanks and appreciation for Gabby to pass on to her grandmother’s friends, and then she
asked to see Matilda and then Oskar. She expressed gratitude to each one for their many years of service and friendship and then closed her eyes briefly, a peaceful smile on her face. “Now I am ready . . . to go and be with my Lord.”

They all watched as she seemed to fall asleep.

“Is she gone?” Matilda whispered.

“No, she’s sleeping.”

They waited, but no one knew at exactly which moment Dorcas Burke went to be with Christ. She simply left in her sleep, a smile on her lips. When Gabby had not seen her chest rise for several minutes, she checked her pulse and said, “How well she endured her going forth.”

Dai took Gabby’s hand in both of his, and when she looked at him with a sad smile, she saw tears in his eyes.

****

Gabby was in Erik’s office, telling him what had happened. “Dalton’s mother is dead. I want to call him and tell him the sad news.”

“Of course. I’ll put the call through for you.” Erik picked up the phone, and after some difficulty and after having spoken strictly to several underlings, he held the receiver out to her. “Here is your uncle.”

“Uncle Dalton?”

“Yes.”

“I have sad news.”

“My mother, she’s gone, isn’t she?”

“I’m afraid so, Uncle.”

“Did she have a peaceful death?”

“Yes. She died in her sleep with a smile on her face. Just before she died, she spoke of you and her hope in Christ.”

“That sounds like her. I’ll do everything I can to get to the funeral.”

“Yes, you must come. It will be the day after tomorrow at three o’clock.”

“I’ll get working on it right away.”

“Good-bye, Uncle Dalton.”

“Good-bye, my dear.”

She handed the phone to Erik. “Thank you, Erik. That was kind of you.”

“I’ll be at the funeral. I’m sorry about your loss. I know you loved your grandmother dearly.”

“Yes, I did. But I will see her again, Erik,” she said with a broad smile. “I will definitely see her again.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Jesus Is the Friend of Sinners

Colonel Fritz Dietrich was sweating. His hands were unsteady, and he pulled at his collar trying to get more air. He had just endured a tongue-lashing from Joseph Goebbels that had left him weak. “But, Herr Goebbels, there’s nothing we can do about this! He is determined, sir.”

“It is your job to do something about it!” Goebbels said coldly. His small eyes were fixed on Dietrich, and he did not trouble himself to conceal his anger. “We cannot permit Burke to leave Germany!”

Dietrich swallowed hard. Ordinarily, he would not have thought of arguing with Goebbels, but now he had little choice. “He’s a very mild man, Herr Goebbels. He’s never made any demands whatsoever, and he’s always been nothing but cooperative. But he’s very upset over his mother’s death.”

“He cannot leave Germany.”

“He has told me that if his mother’s funeral takes place without him, he will not be able to work.”

Goebbels gritted his teeth and thought for a moment. “Very well. If you think it’s the only way . . .”

“I do, sir, indeed! He has been most cooperative, but he apparently loved his mother a great deal. We cannot afford to upset him by denying his attending his mother’s funeral.”

“All right, but you will be in charge of the operation. I want the best squad of guards available. Major Claus Poppel will be in charge. We can’t afford for anything to go wrong.”

“Yes. Major Poppel is a good man indeed, sir. His loyalty
to the führer is unquestionable. He will bring Professor Burke back.”

“We will get Burke to Holland,” Goebbels said, speaking his thoughts aloud, “just in time for the funeral, and then Poppel will bring him back on the plane at once. Burke is a simpleton, but we need to keep him in the dark. He needs to speak to as few of his countrymen as possible. You will give these instructions to Major Poppel.”

“Yes, sir. All will go well, I assure you.”

“It had better,” Goebbels said, threat evident in his manner and his voice, “or you will suffer for it.”

****

When the phone rang, Gabby picked it up at once. “Hello, this is Dr. Winslow.”

“Gabby, this is Erik.”

“Oh, Erik, have you heard anything about my uncle?”

“Yes, he is being flown in for the funeral by orders of the führer himself. You see, we are not the heartless monsters you think we are.”

“We’re all very grateful, Erik, especially to you.”

“I’m afraid the visit must be very short. He must leave immediately after the funeral.”

“He can’t even spend one night here?”

“I’m afraid those are the arrangements. He will be taken to the funeral, and then he must return to Berlin at once. The work, you understand. It cannot be interrupted for long.”

“Oh yes, I understand—and thank you very much, Erik. It will be good to see my uncle and aunt again, even under these circumstances.”

Gabby put the phone back in the cradle. “It’s all settled,” she told Dai, “but my uncle and aunt will not be permitted to stay. They’ll be taken from the funeral directly back to the plane.”

“They don’t want him speaking to anyone more than
necessary. They like to keep their doings secret from people like your uncle.”

“Can we do it, Dai? I mean get them away?” Gabby asked.

“You can believe that they will have a guard with them at all times, but with God as our helper we’ll get them away to England.” He took her hands in his and then put his arm around her and drew her close. As she clung to him, he whispered, “It will be all right. You’ll see!”

****

The church was getting full, but there was still no sign of the Burkes. “Where are they?” Gabby whispered as Betje approached. She peered out the window again. “Erik said they would be here.”

“The phone call just came,” Betje answered. “The plane has landed, and they’re on their way. I’ll see you when it’s all over.”

“I’ll be praying for you, Betje.”

Betje hesitated, a strange look on her face. “It’s odd, but ever since this operation has come up, I’ve been thinking about God.”

Hope surged in Gabby’s heart. She put her hand on Betje’s. “I’m so glad to hear that,” she whispered. “I think God has been after you for a long time.”