Bea and Patrick wanted to have contact with the education inspector as soon as possible. To be well prepared, they decided it was important to describe everything as clearly as possible first, so that they could shove it under the inspector's nose. What they had shown Huib the last time had been a rough outline, more of a brainstorming overview. It might have contained the most important things, but they wanted to go through everything again with Ineke and then make it a nice whole. Who knows what Ineke could add with her knowledge and experience.

Bea walked up to Lisa and asked her which cottage Ineke lived in and if she could go by that way.

"Yes, that is not a problem at the moment as there is no surveillance. They are free to go wherever they want, and receive whoever they want. They won't allow men in unless they know them very well and trust them, but since you are a woman, that issue doesn't come into play either."

"That is also the reason we decided that it was better for me to go to her, and not Patrick. I do know that Patrick won't hurt her, but she hardly knows him yet."

Lisa smiled, walking with Bea in the direction of The Shelter. "Nice of you to take that into account, that only creates more reason for Ineke to trust you both."

They arrived at the little house on the left at the front of the complex. Lisa waved when she saw Ineke looking up. Ineke stood up and was already coming to the door.

"I'm going again," Lisa said, "I just came to give Bea directions. And if it's OK for you if Bea comes to you another time, she knows where to find it now."

"Oh yes, that's no problem. Thanks Lisa! Are you coming in Bea?"

Bea went inside and Ineke was happy to show her her little house.

"How wonderfully cosy, and that bed... I don't need to ask you which barn that bed came from. Huib's work, eh?"

"Yes, that's right, and here in the living room hangs Margreet's work."

Ineke walked ahead of her and pointed to the small tapestry.

Bea looked at it from a distance, shook her head slightly, as if a shiver went through her, and said, "I can feel it, the power radiating from it." And when she looked a little closer, "Unbelievable, it seems so simple, some patches, threads and a few beads of pearls. So simple and at the same time so beautiful and powerful. Unbelievable right? Did she make something like this for all the houses?"

"Yes, for all four broadly the same. And everyone is touched by it, including people who come by for something. I'm not that precise with cleaning, but I do keep track of this. I go over it very regularly with a soft duster while blowing against it, so that the colours don't fade because of dust."

"See, something like that says it all. So you wouldn't do that to something that doesn't touch you!"

"No, I'm really not a cleaner! Lisa pointed that out too, that it's fine if I just keep it up a bit, but that I shouldn't make a big deal out of it. I am here to recover, discover myself and then see where I will move to. And then it will be early enough to give it a good clean for the next occupant. I'm not ready to move yet, I don't even dare walk to your house or go to a shop by myself."

"That's why I came to you. Patrick and I would like to start dotting the i's and crossing the t's so that we are prepared to meet the education inspector. Would you be willing to help us with that?"

"Yes indeed, wherever I can. At least I can think along. Would you like to get started on that now?"

"Do you have the time and inclination for it now?"

"I have too much time here rather than too little, and desire... yes, I find it a bit exciting, I can tell, but I do feel like getting this whole thing together with you. Let's go through the central living room, and I'll pass on to the others where I am."

She grabbed her mobile phone from the table and put it in her pocket. Through the corridor, where she put on her shoes and put on her coat loosely, they walked to the central room.

"OK, there is no one here, but we have a small blackboard put up here for announcements like this."

Ineke picked up a piece of chalk and wrote down, "I am going to Bea and Patrick, Lisa knows them" and her name underneath.

"So, if they then want to know exactly where I am, they can always check with Lisa. We'll get out of there through my front door."

She locked the door to the central living room behind them, and also locked her front door outside. She showed the spool on the key to Bea: "That's how we got our house key: with the house number and HOPE on it. It was overwhelming, the welcome, I'll never forget that!

Silently, they walked towards Patrick and Bea's house. When they were almost there, Bea asked how she had experienced the silent walk.

Ineke looked at her with a smile: "A bit difficult at first, as if I had to keep the conversation going, but then I could surrender to the quiet. The environment does cooperate in this as well, the surroundings exude tranquility."

"Fine, I enjoy it, the peace here," Bea replied, "nice that you managed it too. Here it is, our lovely home. The day of moving here is among our top ten days!"

"I don't know where you lived before, but with what I see here, I can vividly imagine it! How wonderful for Rosalie, to grow up here... and what an immense garden! How do you keep it up?"

"Not, or hardly at all actually. We let it go. We've talked about having the discovery centre built at the back of the garden. That would leave us with enough garden, it seems to me."

"I can imagine, because it's something that belongs to you. Just like Lisa and Sjaak had The Shelter built on the estate. I can't quite see it yet, but I do get the feeling that this could be the place."

"Shall we go inside? Patrick must be eager, he would prefer to start building today," laughed Bea.

"I can understand that, if it's your passion... Hey Patrick, nice of you guys to ask me to join the preparations too. So, tell me, what are we going to do?"

Patrick smiled, "Glad you're here Ineke, shall we sit down by the computer, then I can show you what we already have."

Ineke read through the outline, looked at the building sketch they had made on paper and looked up beaming. "This is just it, this is it. I'm only missing one point, which is your experience with Rosalie, about how she learns and how you deal with that."

"We already described that, but not with the information about the discovery centre. We prepared a letter to apply for a waiver for her, a waiver of compulsory education. We have described how she is discovering and learning on her own, and how she felt at school in those few months in our previous residence."

"In doing so, did you also describe how she felt among the children and with the teacher, how her contacts there were, and how she makes contacts here with anyone she wants with?" asked Ineke. "They insist on that with ease, those social contacts, they would be so much needed for a child, for everyone. I did discover by now, during my internship and exactly opposite here, what it means to be forced to make contacts or have the opportunity to choose who you want to contact. Why should you have to make friends with children you don't want to, with whom you don't have a click? Here she has great contacts. She is taken seriously instead of belittled and she thoroughly enjoys it."

Bea nodded: "You're right, we still need to describe that, that's a really important point. By the way, do you guys feel like coffee yet?"

Patrick and Ineke nodded eagerly. " Yummy," Ineke said, "can I help you with it?"

"Not really, but if you like it, you are welcome to walk with me to the kitchen," Bea suggested.

"Then I'll probably try to describe what Ineke just said. Thanks for your input, this is really crucial!"

The ladies left for the kitchen, where Bea set the coffee machine to work.

"Lovely, this machine grinds the beans itself! I enjoy the rattle and soon the smell," laughed Ineke.

"Yes, nice huh, I'm also glad we were able to get this thing on the cheap. Through Marktplaats, that second-hand website. But here's something completely different. We want to try to raise both points in one conversation with the education inspector, both Rosalie's dispensation and the set-up of the centre. Would you like to be there? To listen, observe and complement where necessary?"

Ineke nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, in itself I would, although again that will be exciting. But actually, that's only a good thing, that way I'll come out of my shell with your help. Just let me know when you're going, and I'll come along."

"Fine, we'll pick you up then, I think that's the easiest way."

"Yes, please. I'll think of something else: have you thought of a name for the centre yet?" asked Ineke, as they went back to Patrick with full mugs."

"No, that's a good point too," said Patrick. "When we have a name, a name that all three of us really click with, we can put it there."

"I got 'The Discovery' in mind," Bea said, "but I think there are primary schools that are already called that. And which then largely follow the preconceived plans. So I don't want to link our centre to that!"

"I think Ineke is spinning on something," Patrick said.

Ineke nodded: "That's right, because of what Bea just said about 'The Discovery'... I got this in my mind: 'I discover it myself!'...with an exclamation mark after it... You know, a school, as far as I know,, never has a name that consists of one little phrase, so even something so simple could distinguish us. And that phrase immediately indicates, what it's all about. I was even briefly thinking of 'I can do it myself', but that is such a stubborn toddler pronunciation, which is not always taken positively."

As she spoke, Patrick and Bea looked at each other. They both saw that the other got a smile, and nodded slightly.

"I think you have found the right name," Bea said, "just a taste... 'I discover it myself!'... with light dancing letters on the front, not tight as it should be. Light dancing because of the pleasure children have in self-discovery. Can you make something like that on the computer, Patrick?"

"That doesn't seem difficult," Patrick thought, "I should be able to manage that with a photo editing program. Shall I give it a try right away?"

He immediately turned enthusiastically to the computer and started the program.

"Just trying it out though, I don't know if it works the way I have in mind. I don't know all the possibilities yet either..." His voice floated away as he discovered something he suspected he could use. He clicked the corresponding icon and typed: I discover it myself!

The letters appeared on the screen in a wave motion.

They agreed that this perfectly indicated the wave motion that people, including children, often find themselves in. One day you feel more like what you are going to do, the next day less. One day everything works out with ease, the next day with difficulty or not at all. And it also had that slight dancing in it that Bea had in mind. A beautiful, natural wave motion!

Patrick saved the file for a while and started experimenting with fonts. He placed a few under each other so they could see the difference.

"Ladies, do you have a preference?"

Bea and Ineke looked at each other and burst out laughing. "I love the sloppy ones! That accentuates that development doesn't have to be perfect, and certainly not according to a set pattern," Ineke reported.

"Exactly what I was thinking," responded Bea, "away with the stiff! It's readable, and not really sloppy. I mean, that it's not scratched or anything. Why do we always think all the letters should be neatly lined up?"

"No idea! Girls, you are great! We'll do this one, and I'll put the description there in the letter we're going to draft." Patrick beamed.

"Like a child so happy," Bea whispered to Ineke.

"I don't blame him, I think we're all going to feel younger when we become more ourselves. They sometimes talk about 'old souls', but I don't think that's what we're becoming!"

Bea laughed! "Emotional healing, the best rejuvenation cure of this century! Patrick, you're good with that program, can't you make a nice print of that? An advertising print?"

Patrick shot into laughter: "You really are deranged, pleasantly deranged! But on a serious note: I think I have everything I need for a concept. I'm going to try to get that concept completely in order today. Shall I forward it to you afterwards, Ineke? Then we can go through it all and maybe suggest additions or changes. Do you have an e-mail address, Ineke? And if so, may I have it from you?"

"Yes of course," laughed Ineke happily, "this feels so good, for me too. Just being able to be among people, feeling safe and making plans for something so beautiful. I really hope it continues." She mentioned her email address, which Patrick immediately added to their email contacts.

"So, settled! And nice, really great that you feel safe here! I hope to send the draft to you today! By the way, did Bea tell you yet, that we are considering applying for planning permission for the back of our garden? It's practical, less garden maintenance, which neither of us really like anyway, there's plenty of space, nice and close..."

"Yes, Bea pointed out. It felt strange for a moment, but I realise that's another one of those fixed things, of what belongs or doesn't belong. You really shouldn't build something like that in your garden, but I immediately realised, the Bloemenhof family did exactly the same thing. Their estate is much bigger, of course, but they still just built a little village on it for us! And that actually feels very natural. And as I tell you this, I notice that it also feels very natural, if you were to build the centre here." Ineke nodded, as if to validate her words.

Bea smiled: "Super nice, then we all agree on that too!"

To chapter 26. Recording music

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