Indeed, it turned out that they still had some time before Annerieke expected them in the kitchen for dinner. Together they lug the rocking chair and bedside table upstairs. And while Margreet brought her bag with smaller items upstairs later, Huib put the big box in the kitchen.

“Ha Huib,” Annerieke said, “Open up, open up, I'm so curious!”

Huib laughed and opened the flaps of the box. It was full of balls of bright red, a little bit fluffy wool. Huib held up a ball of wool so that Annerieke, who was cooking, could see it.

“Oh Huib, how beautiful! It looks like angora wool, but I don't think it is, it’s fluffy, but not as fluffy as angora. Twenty-five balls? My dear, she can make a long vest of that! I am so curious to see how she will like it. Leave that box open, so we can see her reaction later. Besides, did she found some nice stuff at the store?”

“You should have seen her, so free, so enthusiastic. Where she can be a shy sparrow towards people, she is a free bird in such a store. She didn't pay any attention to the people around her, as if she shields herself from that completely. I don't know if she does that on purpose, or if she's so focused on the stuff she sees, I really don't know, but it was nice to see." He laughed: “She saw a rocking chair in the furniture hall. She almost screamed with enthusiasm, sat rocking in that chair and said she would stay in it for the rest of the day. Customers around us laughed at her, but she didn't even seem to notice. She is special, I think there is a wonderfully free and spirited bird behind that shy shield!”

"Awesome! I missed something this afternoon! I'll ask her if I can come to her tonight to check out her acquisitions."

"I'm sure she'll like that, she likes you."

Annerieke smiled: “Not just me, she likes you too. It is indeed as you say, how you describe her, I think that is correct. I hope she will come to full bloom here!”

“Yes, that would be nice...” Huib stared ahead, seemed to forget his mother. He imagined Margreet walking around the thrift store, daydreamed of how she would walk around their estate, how she would look around in his house, and in the barn where he worked wood before the dead of his father and…

The door opened. Margreet came in with a cheerful smile on her face: “Hello Annerieke, it smells wonderful here!”

“Hello Huib,” Huib pretended to feel passed over.

“You funny guy,” Margreet laughed, a little shy. Suddenly she saw the big box that she had seen in the pickup. The flaps of the top were still open a bit, so she could see the balls of wool. “What a beautiful wool that is! Such beautiful color! And how nice, a bit angora-like!” Margreet picked up a ball and read the label: “It is a mix of regular wool and angora wool. What are you going to make of it, Annerieke?”

"I? Nothing…"

"Nothing? What do you mean? What are you going to do with it then?”

Annerieke looked at Margreet. “Yesterday I got a call from an employee at the thrift store. She knows that I like to knit and that I like bright colors, especially such bright red. She told me that they had received these and that she had set them aside for me because she suspected I might be interested in them. As I already told you, and as you probably noticed this afternoon, shopping there is wonderful, also because the prices are so low. I told her that I would be happy to take it and that I would ask Huib if he could pick it up this afternoon."

Huib interrupted her, with a mischievous grin: “And you didn't do that, mom, you didn't ask me anything, you told me to!”

Annerieke saw his grin and heard from his tone that he was teasing. Margreet had a little more trouble with it, for her it linked to reproaches she'd heard far too often, but when she saw mother and son smile at each other, she knew nothing was wrong.

“That's right, Huib, you're my slave, you know that, so I'll give you orders, that's how it works! But I'm hiding that from the outside world by telling I'll ask you," Annerieke teased him in return.

Then she turned back to Margreet with a happy face: “Huib told me last night that you also like needlework, and that you wanted to knit a sweater. He thought you were more my type when it comes to color, not like his forest tones, but more the bright colors, which I also like to wear. And then I knew it: that wool isn't for me, it's a present from us to you! Think of it as a little present to welcome you, because we are happy to have you.”

“A little present? A little present? That's not a little present, that's a PRESENT with big capital letters! A box full of balls of wool, real wool? I can't accept that, that's way too crazy, way too expensive, that… that…” Margreet couldn't get out of her words, was so stunned that she almost became upset.

Huib, seeing that his mother didn’t have her hands free, took over for a while. He put his hand on Margreets shoulder and said, “Margreet, it wasn't expensive. It is valuable, and it must have been expensive at first sale, but now it came from the thrift store, so we were happy to buy it for you. What are you going to make of it? That sweater you were planning?”

“Yeah, but…,” Margreet sighed deeply a few times, trying to blink away the tears that pricked her eyes. “I find this really difficult…”

“I get that, girl, but it's really not necessary,” Annerieke promised. “I hope you will enjoy making something beautiful out of it. Huib told me, you had planned to knit a sweater. Can I give you a tip?” And when Margreet nodded: “Make it a vest. Because you know, when you're working in here, a sweater is soon too hot. When you go outside to hang up the laundry, you can quickly put on a vest. And if you sit still, upstairs in your room… I don't know if it gets as hot there as it does here, but with a thick vest you won't feel cold easily. It's just an idea though, if you'd rather knit a sweater, just do it."

Margreet remained silent for a while, she was quite overwhelmed by what just had happened. She thought about what Annerieke and Huib had said. “Okay... okay... Then I want to thank you, I'm really happy with it! And I think your idea is a good tip Annerieke, I think I'm going to make a long vest. Wool enough for a very long vest!”

“Oh yes, enough wool for a long vest, a long vest with a train. And a large pointy hat can also be added, I think,” Huib joined in mischievously.

Margreet laughed: "I can already see myself going in such a thing, Little Red Riding Hood with a train..."

Annerieke and Huib laughed with her. Meanwhile, Annerieke had finished the buffet trays, and together they took them to the dining room. Everything was ready on time. “How do you do that, how do you get everything ready on time?” asked Margreet.

“That is a matter of experience, so I can reasonably estimate what time I should start. I'm usually ready a little before half past five. When the guests come in, they can scoop up food for themselves.”

“I get it, but I still think it's very handsome! And when I see everything like this, I only feel how my stomach rattles…”

Huib laughed: “That makes sense, when I consider how active you were this afternoon… that does make you hungry!”

To chapter 12. Soul Connections

Or to the Table of contents