Sjaak was working in the garden, wonderfully at ease. He had gotten into the habit of not working according to the teachings of his training, but in Erik's way, by feeling. He was just examining a group of bushes from a distance, to feel if he wanted to do something with them, when in the corner of his eye he saw two people approaching. He recognized Marcel as the officer who had done most of the talking at Henk’s house. The man who had been so shocked when it turned out that Lisa had not been a voluntary prostitute there.

He wiped his hands on his work pants and walked toward them. Their greeting was cordial, and just like Annerieke, Sjaak felt a click with both of them.

Sjaak told them, that Lisa had been so brave to watch a piece of all the recordings, to take screenshots of the men. He told them that Lisa would like Marcel and Janny to come and see if they knew the men. And on top of this, what they had discovered about the so-called administration, that it was mostly about rituals.

Marcel immediately responded, "Even that, poor Lisa! What a miserable dark world she has been in!" He clearly showed how he stood emotionally in the matter, what he thought of it. "If it's up to me, we'll get right down to it, tonight for all I care. If Lisa has been so brave to face everything and collect data in such a short time, what would we wait for? What do you think about that Sjaak?"

"I agree with you completely, and your anger does good to me, I can tell you that! And you Janny, would you like to participate too, as a support for Lisa, women among themselves? Would you?"

"Very much so, a woman who has been through so much...I would like very much to be there for her. And what that will look like in practice, no idea, but it will come. In any case, I just want to stand behind her with my heart, as a kind of support for her."

Sjaak nodded at her, "Very nice to hear! Also the people here, the staff, are like a wall around us. And we need that very much, for now, for a trial, and also afterwards." Sjaak shared Lisa's desire to start a shelter. "If that can all go on, we're going to need people around us, too, because I expect it's going to take a lot."

Janny smiled, "Annerieke called the staff here family Bloemenhof.  Then I already got that idea that this is a close-knit group of people. But you are not all family in the sense of blood relatives?"

Sjaak laughed, "No, hardly, just Annerieke and Huib, they are mother and son." He pointed to their houses and the work shed, "That's where Annerieke lives, starting this weekend with her Simon. A little further you see the work shed of Huib, where he makes the most beautiful things with wood. And behind that is the house of Huib and Margreet. When Annerieke was still married to Erik, her first husband, she would have liked to have had more children, but medically that was no longer possible. Now she has taken in Margreet, and also Lisa and me as her children. We are very lucky with her, with each other. It is very special to be able to live in such a close-knit group. We feel each other on a soul level, I haven't experienced that often outside of this estate."

"Neither do we, we do have it together, although we poke at each other's pain and stuff quite often, but we do have a deep connection." Marcel looked first at his wife, then at Sjaak. "So we do understand what you mean. But back to Lisa's story for a moment. Shall we get started tonight?"

"Fine, will you come to our house there?" Marcel and Janny looked where he was pointing. "Sure, shall we come right after dinner? Or rather a little later?"

Sjaak thought for a moment, "Maybe better right after dinner, in case there are any strong feelings coming up, then we have some time to unwind before the night begins."

Janny smiled at him, "Good idea of yours, then we will come to you after dinner."

"Then I'll make sure we have cake in the house." And when he saw that they looked surprised, Sjaak explained: "In principle, Annerieke bakes cake for the guests every day, for the evening with the coffee. Only not on Wednesday, for the dance night she makes snacks, just a little different, but also delicious."

"Boy, what a treat, how nice!" Marcel responded cheerfully.

"Well, I'm looking forward to it, I really have a sweet tooth!" Janny smiled. "See you tonight then!"

Embraced, they walked on, exploring the estate.

To chapter 162. Simon gets help

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