The Gypsy Moon (31 page)

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

Dai detected a change in her mood. “What is it?”

A smile turned the corners of her lips upward. “I was just thinking that Betje right now is probably saying to Grandmother, ‘There, you see, I made it in spite of everything!’ ”

“You really think heaven’s like that? Where people make jokes and talk about things just like we do on earth?”

“Oh, I don’t know, Dai.”

“Sometimes I get confused about heaven.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, the book of Revelation probably has the clearest pictures of it. Or at least the most vivid. But it sounds like the richest city on earth—walls of pearl and streets of gold and everything so ornate. Actually, I’ve never seen a city I thought was as pretty as a field of tulips.”

“Why, I’ve had that same thought myself!” She laughed softly. “I think we’re trapped in words. That’s all we can use, so God gave us some beautiful imagery, but I’m sure heaven is better than anything we can even conceive of.”

“That’s a comforting thought.”

The two talked some more about the dear woman Betje
and Gabby had always called Grandmother, but soon the conversation turned serious again. “Let’s pray about getting out of here alive, Dai.”

“I’m already doing that.”

“I mean together. You know the Scripture says if any two of you will agree on anything, it’ll be done.”

“All right, but I’m not very eloquent with prayer.”

“I think that’s probably a good thing. Let’s just let God know what we want.”

He took both of Gabby’s hands in his own. They prayed silently for a while, and then she began to pray out loud. Her prayer was as simple and straightforward as she was herself. “God, you know who we are and where we are, and you know the danger we’re facing. I ask that you get us all out of this trouble safely. In Jesus’ name.”

“Lord, I agree with Gabby on this,” Dai said. “We can’t do this by ourselves, but nothing is too difficult for you. So we come together and agree that this is the desire of our hearts. Let us make this escape with no loss of life, and we ask it in the name of Jesus.”

“Amen,” they said together.

“I think I’m going to sleep awhile,” Gabby said. “Good night.”

She went over to her blanket and lay down, and she fell asleep almost at once. But before long she woke up with a fresh idea in her mind. At first she rejected it and pushed it aside, but it came back even stronger. As she mulled it over, she realized that this was an answer to the prayer she and Dai had prayed. She let the thought take root, and soon it grew to a full-fledged plan.

Getting to her feet, Gabby said, “Wake up, everyone!”

“What is it?” Liza said, coming to her feet with a startled expression.

Dai and Dalton were also staring at her.

“It’s time to go. We have to leave this place.”

“Go where?” Dai asked quickly.

“I have never been quite certain of people who said, ‘God told me to do this or that,’ but I believe that after we prayed, Dai, God gave me an answer for our situation—and something to do.”

“Who are we to dispute what God is telling you!” he exclaimed. “What is this plan of yours, Gabby?”

She began to explain, and they listened in silence. “Dai, the first part is up to you. You need to go to the other end of the hospital and get the ambulance. If you see the night-shift driver, tell him that Dr. Winslow asked you to make a special run to pick up a patient. Drive the ambulance around to this entrance, and we’ll be waiting for you here. We’ll all climb in the back, and you’ll drive us to my grandmother’s house.” She went on, telling them what they’d do once they got to the house.

“Come on, then,” Liza said firmly. “Let’s do it.”

While Dai left to get the ambulance, the others gathered the food they had left into a single sack and piled the blankets neatly in a corner. When they heard the knock they had agreed upon, they all slipped out the door and into the ambulance.

As Dai drove swiftly through the city, Gabby suddenly felt the pressure of her decision. She wanted to be reassured, and it was her uncle who provided the support she needed. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said quietly as he put his arm around her, warmth in his tone. “It’s good to be in a crisis with someone that God speaks to.” He squeezed her closer. “God always spoke with great clarity to my mother, and now it seems He’s speaking to you in the same way.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

“I Was Born for This!”

The moon was full as the party disembarked from the ambulance in front of Dorcas Burke’s house. As Gabby glanced up and saw the rich fullness of the silver circle, she murmured, “It’s a gypsy moon.”

“What did you say?” Liza asked.

“Oh, nothing. Quick, we need to get inside.”

Dai drove the ambulance several blocks down the street and around the corner before parking it and then sprinted back to the house. “We were lucky to get here without being seen,” he said quietly, “but we need to get out of sight.”

Gabby led them all to the back of the house. As she did, a dark figure suddenly appeared, startling her.

“Who is it?” a gruff voice said.

“It’s me, Oskar—Gabby Winslow.”

Oskar came forward, and Gabby saw that he was carrying a shotgun in his hands. He lowered it, and as the moonlight fell on his face, she saw him smile. “Ah, it is you!” he said. “I have been worried about you.”

“We’re all right, Oskar. What are you doing here?”

“I am taking care of the place until we know what to do.” He leaned forward suddenly and gasped. “Professor Burke, it is you!”

“Hello, Oskar.” Burke shook the man’s hand. “I’m glad to see you again.”

“So, it is you they are looking for.”

“The Germans? They’ve been here?” Dai asked.

“Down the street they are looking. They could come here soon, I think. You cannot stay here.”

“We know that, Oskar,” Gabby said. “I have a plan to disguise ourselves before we make our escape. I think I’ve come up with a workable way to escape right under the noses of the Germans.”

“A disguise?” Oskar’s tone was unbelieving, and he shook his head. “That will never work.”

“I believe God’s told me to do this, Oskar. All we need you to do is to play ignorant if the Germans question you.”

He shrugged his bulky shoulders. “Of course. I will help in any way I can.”

“If there’s any food in the house that we could take with us, would you gather it together? If there’s any dried fruit or beef jerky, that would be easy to carry. We won’t be able to buy anything on the way.”

Oskar screwed up his face and then asked with a voice tinged with worry, “Do you really think you can do this?”

“I was born for this,” Gabby told the whole group with a face that was glowing with faith. “After all, I’ve always enjoyed acting, and . . . well, this will be the role of a lifetime!”

****

The group had planned to leave that night, but the morning was almost upon them. After a quick consultation, Gabby and Dai decided they would spend the day resting up and getting prepared and would leave the following night.

“That’ll work as long as the Germans don’t search the house,” Dai said.

“We’ll just have to hope they don’t. Dai, why don’t you and Dalton and Oskar put your heads together and see if you can work out an alternate plan.”

“Well, the only thing I can think of right now is to go out the back door and run for it,” he said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. “But we’ll see what we can come up with.”

“There’s a loft in the barn. Maybe we could hide up there if they come here.”

“I’m afraid that would be the first place they’d look.”

****

With Oskar keeping a watch for any German search party in the neighborhood, the others tried to get some much-needed rest. Gabby didn’t think she’d be able to relax with all that was going through her head, but eventually the exhaustion of the last few days caught up with her, and she slept solidly for a few hours.

When the others started to stir, Gabby asked Liza to help her, and the two went to the spare room Gabby had always used when she would visit her grandmother. She threw open the door of the closet and pulled out an assortment of German uniforms. When Erik had learned that she collected costumes of all types, he had asked her if she wanted some worn-out military uniforms, and she had jumped at the opportunity.

She and Liza sorted the uniforms into sizes on the bed. Dalton would fit the largest one they had, but they would have to turn the hem of the pants under so they weren’t ridiculously long.

“Here, Liza, why don’t you try this one on,” Gabby said as she held up one of the smaller uniforms. Liza tried on the slacks, which were actually a pretty good fit, and then put on the tunic. It hung a little loose around her midsection, but other than that it was close to her size.

“I think I’ve got just the thing,” Gabby said as she pulled out a dresser drawer. “Grandmother always kept extra winter clothes in here. . . .” She rummaged in the drawer until she found what she was looking for. “If we tie this around your waist”—she tied a woolen scarf around her aunt—“it’ll help disguise the fact that you’re a woman.”

Liza checked her reflection in the mirror. “Not bad. Not bad at all.”

“And with your hair cut short the way you’ve been wearing it recently, we won’t have to do a thing with it.”

“But what about yours?” Liza asked. “Are you just going to tuck it into a hat?”

“That was going to be my plan until I remembered this wig I got years ago.” Gabby reached high into the closet and pulled out a box. “Do you remember the time I played the role of a man in that community theater production not long after I came to live with you? This is the wig I wore.” She put her hair in a high ponytail and pulled the wig on.

“Of course I remember!” Liza helped Gabby stuff a few stray hairs into the wig. “That’ll work.”

“If you’ll go get Uncle Dalton,” Gabby said, “I’ll get started on his makeup. The Germans probably have a good description of him, so we’re going to have to change his appearance enough that they don’t recognize him.”

While Liza went to get her husband, Gabby got out her theatrical makeup, as well as her putty and fake hair. When Liza returned with Dalton, Gabby sat Dalton down and pulled another chair close for herself.

“I’d like to give you a slightly bigger nose and bushier eyebrows,” Gabby explained. “How does that sound?”

“It doesn’t sound very attractive,” he said with a grin, “but I’ll do what I need to do to get past the Germans.”

“Excellent. Aunt Liza, while we’re doing this, do you want to take that other uniform down to Dai and see if it’ll work for him?”

“Sure. And then I’m going to look through your collection of boots and make sure we’ve got the right sizes for everyone.”

“Good,” Gabby said. “I had almost forgotten about shoes. And then when I’m done with Dalton’s makeup, I’ll give you and me some more masculine eyebrows and maybe a little stubble of a beard.”

Gabby turned her attention to her uncle. She molded a small piece of putty and gave it a trial fitting on his nose, and when she was satisfied that it wasn’t too big or unusual
looking, she dabbed a little spirit gum on his nose and applied the putty, working it until it was smooth and nearly seamless. Next she got to work on his eyebrows, working in some white hair along with some slightly longer brown hair. Next she took out some foundation from a small bag and carefully applied it all over Dalton’s face and neck, giving special attention to his new nose.

“Done! What do you think?” she asked as she stood him in front of the mirror.

“I hardly recognize myself! I had forgotten how good you were with your stage makeup.”

“Thank you. Once we get you in a German uniform, I don’t think anyone will have a chance of recognizing you.”

****

As Gabby finally got into her own uniform, she fingered the necklace she had worn for so many years, thinking about the old woman who had given it to her. It gave her a warm feeling to remember the woman’s prayers. She would never forget what Madame Jana had said,
“Jesus will make a way for you through the danger. ”

She checked her uniform in the mirror and pulled on her hat. With her freshly stubbled jaw and slightly bushier eyebrows, she was pleased with her masculine appearance. She dug deep into the closet and found two old military knapsacks and a couple of canteens Erik had given her to use in one of the skits at the orphanage. She took them into her grandmother’s bedroom and stuffed one of the knapsacks with light blankets.

She took a deep breath and then joined the others, who were making their last-minute preparations. “How do I look?” she asked.

“You look like a German soldier,” Dai said as he looked her over in amazement.

“And so do all of you,” Gabby stated with satisfaction.

Gabby handed the empty knapsack to Oskar. “We can
put food and water for the journey in here.” They went to the kitchen, where he filled the knapsack while Gabby put water in the canteens.

“I hope this is enough food for the four of you,” he said.

“I’m sure it will be,” Gabby said as she put the lid on a canteen. “I forgot to ask you if you’ve heard from Matilda.”

“Yes, she is staying with her sister. She is very sad, as we all are, that Madam died.”

“We all miss her,” Gabby said gently. She put her arms around the man and hugged him. “Thank you so much for helping us. You’ve been a faithful friend all these years. I’ll come back and see you when this is all over.”

“I guess we’re ready,” she said as the rest of the group joined them in the kitchen.

“Let’s pray, and then we’ll be on our way,” Dalton said.

After they finished praying that God would protect and guide them, Dalton came forward and shook hands with Oskar. “I hope you don’t mind staying here at Mother’s house. I want to come back to it after the war is over. I don’t know what I was thinking when I sold my house.”

“Ja, I will stay here. And God go with you all.”

They all murmured their good-byes, and then they slipped out the back door into the night. They stayed against the house until they were sure no soldiers were nearby, and then they moved down the street.