When she returned a little later with a tray and handed around cake and coffee, Marieke explained that it was clear to her in itself that she wanted to help secure Lisa and the surrounding area.

"I only understood from Martin, that there will be a renovation on this house this week, and also on the house of that other young couple. That does make it more difficult, but not impossible. I'd like you to give me the contact details of the person who is going to supervise the renovation, so I can talk to him too, and try to sense whether it all seems familiar."

Sjaak grabbed a pen and paper and wrote down Simon's name and phone number. "And he lives over there, on the other side of the field. You can't see the house that way, but he's recently become part of the Bloemenhof family."

Sjaak explained on the back of the paper, what the situation was. He drew a rough sketch of the estate, put a cross at the places of the guesthouse and the houses, and wrote the names of the people at the crosses of the houses.

"Look," he pointed out, "this is where Annerieke and Simon live. Annerieke is the first owner of the guest house, and at the same time the cook and hostess. This cake was made by her, by the way. Simon moved in yesterday, moved in with Annerieke. He is the one who arranges the renovation, from blueprint to completion. He also works during the construction, so he will be here almost continuously. He knows what we are doing and that there will be security.

This is our house here. And in this house, a bit behind Annerieke's house, live Huib and Margreet. Huib is the son of Annerieke, is a woodworker and has somewhere here, between their house and the house of Annerieke, a great big work shed." Sjaak drew a rectangle to indicate the work shed.

"Margreet has only lived with him for a little while longer than Lisa has with me. And they are expecting a baby, still very early, they are expecting the baby in August. Margreet does housework at the guesthouse. Lisa and Margreet have become friends in and around the guesthouse. They regularly work together in the household, just for fun."

"Boy, that all sounds amazing. And I have the impression that it is actually amazing. Somehow I sense that from the way you talk about it, as if you are all lovers of each other. More than blood relatives..." described Marieke.

"That's the nail on the head, Marieke," Sjaak replied, "that's exactly how it is! Only Annerieke and Huib have a blood relation, as mother and son, the rest of us came blown by the wind. So Simon is not the first husband of Annerieke. She was previously married to Erik, Huib's father. Erik built everything here, and Simon, who was friends with him, helped him build the guesthouse and their house. Later they also built Huib's and my houses with us. I didn't want an upper floor yet, I didn't think that was necessary at the time. I was very much on my own, if you like, shy of people. And that Erik foresaw that Huib and I would both have a partner and a family, Huib could believe that to a certain extent, but I could not. That's why this house doesn't have an upper floor yet. They are going to start with that on Wednesday. And behind both houses there will be an attached laundry and drying room and a shed."

Ellen was beaming. "Do you know how wonderful it is to listen to you guys? The love for each other, and for the people who live here, just radiates from you. And I just feel that you live from your hearts. I was lucky that my parents always encouraged me to do that by asking what I thought, and what I felt about it. Sometimes it made me angry, especially when they sensed that I was up to something that would do me more harm than good, but in the end I have always known, that they led me down the right path. I remember your parents being like that too, right?" she asked Marieke.

"Yes, that's right, although we were a little less concerned with questions like that. My parents were more of the pre-living than the deliberate discussion. And in that they left me quite free, at most telling me whether or not they felt comfortable with something I did. Yes, I could also learn to live from my inner self, and I am still grateful to them for that! Great!

But given that time goes on, I think it's good to take a moment to determine how we both stand in this situation. For myself, it's clear: I know this assignment is for me, that's something I know here." She patted her belly as she spoke. "A certainty, a certain knowing, a certain feeling. So I'm very eager to get into business with you, to do everything possible to keep you safe for as long as the process of that trial lasts, and if necessary even longer. The people I hire to do that, I know heart to heart. And I know that they are good, not only professional and experienced, but that they are also able to sense. They have regularly sensed who they couldn't trust, and that makes them very suitable for their work.

In addition, I want you to know that I think it's important to keep in touch. If you have questions, don't like things, you really should come to me with it, so that we can do everything possible to improve the situation. And from my part, I will let you know from time to time how things are going, evaluate and try to feel if everything is going according to plan. In any case, I will work out what seems to be needed, how many people and where. I will consult with the other residents you drew on the sketch here. And I'll get to work as soon as possible on putting security guards in place.

They work in pairs, always a man and a woman. Especially in your situation, Lisa, with your history of sexual abuse, it wouldn't be right to send you two men. How they are going to secure you, they may tell you themselves, but you may always inquire with me about that as well. Tell me, do you like this? Or do you want to think about it?"

Lisa looked at Sjaak, who nodded briefly at her. Lisa took the floor, noting from Sjaak's nod that he was confiding in her, "To me, what you're telling is clear, and it feels right. Martin really did the right thing in knocking on your door. I'd love it if you'd get on with it."

She glanced at Sjaak just to be sure. He nodded, "I couldn't agree more."

"Then I only have to say, in all honesty, that my people and I can't work for nothing. So there is a bill involved." She made a tentative estimate of how high the amount per day would be.

Lisa shook her head, "That's okay, Alexander is organizing an auction for the contents of the house I lived in with my ex. That auction is as early as next week, if I'm not mistaken." She saw that Ellen nodded. "He expects it to bring in quite a lot of money, the furnishings are super-luxurious! And then the house will be put up for sale. It's a type of house that sells easily, and the region is sought after, so I expect the sale won't take long. So financially it shouldn't be a problem at all."

Ellen intervened briefly, "If the judge gets as far as declaring those men guilty, all the costs, including security and legal fees, will be borne by the perpetrators."

"Great, then we have another reason to win that case! But anyway, from the money we end up with, we can accomplish the plans we have."

"Multiple plans? More than just that house back there?"

Lisa nodded and briefly explained how they wanted to start helping people who needed financial help with something with interest-free loans. "Also we want to start doing that from within. So not like anyone can just knock on our door. We'll find the right people, I'm sure of it!"

"I have no doubt about that by now!" laughed Ellen. "But I'm sure you'd also like to know if I want to defend you. When asked if I want to, my answer is clearly yes! I feel that I am allowed to do this, that I must do it. There is such an intense urge to do so, I have never experienced that so strongly before! But I do have a problem, which is that I have absolutely no experience with this subject, with a case of such magnitude. And I don't want to mess it up, you know?"

Marieke put her hand on her arm, "Ellen, there is no way you would mess up. I don't want to force you into anything, but you clearly feel what you have to do. And if you respond to that, you will also hear and feel how to take all the steps in the process. And in addition, you have the knowledge. I've come to know you as a studious person, so I assume you've also kept up with your literature and are aware of all the changes in laws and customs. Right?"

Ellen looked at her with a faint smile: "Yes, that's right, that's how I am. It must be the lack of experience that makes it difficult for me to say yes. You know," she turned to the whole group, "this is not just a matter between two people, as I am used to with divorces. Such matters are important too, of course, but this, this has to do with five high-ranking men who have fallen low. And besides that whole situation between them and you, to my mind there's something very big behind it. I know there are more cesspools like this all over the world, not least among politicians and in royal houses. Those people have so much power for a reason... And the very idea that justice would not be done to you, that would give an extra lock to those other cesspools. That's how I feel. That's another reason why you have to win. If you win, that would be a crack in all those other cesspools. Do you understand? Those cesspools must all be opened, too. It is strange, and probably not coincidental, that it is precisely about such immense cesspools that I have found quite a lot of information lately, that I’ve been digging in. As if I knew that one day I would have a part in it. And that makes me feel uncomfortable and uncertain, to say the least, about myself. Can I pull it off? Can I defend you in such a way that you come out glorious? And in addition to that, it is of utmost importance that we get a real judge, I mean a judge who speaks justice from the heart. A judge who senses what's going on and who actually wants to do justice. And there are so few of those. The fact that there are so few justice speaking judges could well be the reason why I didn't continue with more complicated cases."

Marieke interrupted her, "Ellen, I completely understand your feeling and I don't want to detract from it either. If you have the wrong judge in front of you, you are only so much worse off. But you know, as you were talking, I was reminded of a former classmate. We both had a click with him. We went about our studies in the same way, we longed for real law. Johan Simons, do you remember that name?"

Ellen started laughing, "Of course, that's it! Yes, I remember him, a guy who went full-on for the law, really from the heart. And I know he became a judge, in the right region even, so he would be the most suitable person for you, Lisa. The only problem is, I can't decide which judge you get. That's up to the court."

Ellen looked thoughtful again, thought for a moment... "I'm just going to call Johan tomorrow, I'm going to see if I can get him to do this. No I already have, maybe I can get yes!"

"That's how I know you!" laughed Marieke. And to Sjaak and Lisa: "What she just said about Johan Simons, we were like that ourselves, longing for real justice, and also for authenticity in general. That is why we got along so well. We just lost sight of each other. Say," she said conspiratorially to Ellen, "shall we raid him together? Oh no, better not. I'd love to, but I need and want to spend my time preparing for security. That takes up more than enough of my time, but it is desperately needed, and fortunately I also enjoy doing it. I've always liked my job, but now in this situation, with you guys, and maybe Johan Simons as a judge there... I'd almost think we were going to Disney Land, that's how enthusiastic I feel about it, enthusiastic and with a wonderful excitement that comes with my job!"

They shot up in laughter, causing any other tension that had been building to vanish. They stood up and, promising to keep each other informed, said their happy goodbyes. The ladies disappeared to their cars talking and laughing, while Sjaak and Lisa watched them from behind the window and waved them off.

Sjaak embraced Lisa and pulled her to him, burying his face in her hair.

"Liesel, dear Liesel of mine, I think we have a top team! I don't know if they can snare that judge, but I'd honestly be surprised if they couldn't persuade him to put himself forward for our trial!"

To chapter 175. Memories

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