Huib walked straight to his work shed. He looked around and considered what the options were. He began to reorganise, putting his small scraps of wood under the workbench and moving his stock of new wood to create a space where a table and chair could be placed. He swept the floor a bit and went to the guesthouse's barn. There stood an old camping table, folded up against the wall. Elly had been the last person to use it, when she made the mural for the children's room. That was about a year ago. Other than that, the thing was never used. There appeared to be a folding chair behind it, which no one was interested in either. He took them both to his work shed and placed them in the space he had just cleared. The table fitted exactly under a window, it couldn't be any better!

He walked back to The Shelter, sought out Maureen in her cottage with Ilse's help and asked if she would walk with him for a moment. The other women walked behind them curiously, suspecting that Huib had arranged something for Maureen for her hobby, although they could hardly believe that he had already managed to do so.

Huib let Maureen go ahead, into the barn. He pointed her to the corner where he had set up the camping table. "What do you think, could you work there for as long as it takes?" he asked her.

"There? Great! Are you serious? Then aren't you afraid I'll burn down your work shed?"

"As a child, did you ever cause a fire with those candles?"

"No, I didn't, I was always careful."

"Well, if you are that again now, I'm sure you'll be fine. Can you use any more shelves on the wall to put your things on?"

Maureen shook her head: "No, that's not necessary. I think I'll buy candles and put them in a box here under the table. Then if I need a different colour, I'll just grab in that box. Yes, I'll look for candles, a knife, and... can I take a little board from your leftover wood every now and then? Then I can use that as a base, build up the candle network on the wood."

"Fine yah, just take what you need there under my table," Huib replied.

Maureen looked at him with tears in her eyes. "You don't half know what this means to me. Instead of someone taking from me, you are giving me something of your own. That means a new beginning for me, new hope, new courage! This is going to be good, this is going to be something beautiful! Thank you, Huib!"

"You're welcome, Maureen, really welcome. If everything in life was as simple as that..."

.

Maureen and the other women walked back to The Shelter, talking enthusiastically about the simple solution that was a great start for Maureen.

"I'm only left with the fact that I will thus have to go into the village to buy candles and a knife. Would you fancy and dare to go together?"

The women looked at each other tensely. Going off the grounds together for the first time would be a big step.

"If we go together, I do dare," said Ineke, "I also went with Bea to her house, and that didn't disappoint me. But then we really have to stay together, even in the shop. I don't even want to think about walking somewhere alone..."

"I'll go with you, I still find it terribly scary, but I feel like taking that step together and celebrating your new start," Katja replied.

"Then I won't be left behind, we'll just do it!" said Ilse.

"Tomorrow morning? Or do you guys want to go right away?" asked Maureen.

Ilse laughed: "I think you prefer to go now. It doesn't matter to me. Shall we go to that thrift shop now? Would it still be open?"

"For this first time, it will be handy if we brief Lisa so she knows what we are going to do. Then right away we can ask until what time that shop is open."

They put their coats back on, consulted with Lisa and walked to the village. The thrift shop had mostly white candles, and Maureen decided that for the moment that would be the basis for her first work. She was going to make a wedding dress. At the cutlery bins, she picked up a knife, teaspoons and a metal pricker she had no idea what it was normally used for.

"Then what do you use them for?" asked Ineke in surprise.

"With the backs of the spoons I can make folds in the wedding dress I see before me, when the candle wax is still soft. And with that little pricker I can make smaller figures. And with the little knife I can scrape or cut away candle wax."

Ineke smiled: "I think you can see it all before you!"

Maureen nodded, beaming.

She looked for and found a metal dish, in which she wanted to keep leftover candle wax to melt later and use in other ways. She did not yet know exactly how, but felt, she could experiment with that.

On their way towards the checkout, they passed a stand with necklaces. Maureen casually picked out a necklace with tiny pearl beads and a necklace with tiny shimmering silver beads.

At the checkout, they met Elly, who asked them if they were on holiday, as she did not know them.

"No, we live in The Shelter, behind Pension Bloemenhof," replied Maureen, who suspected that this Elly was the woman of the murals.

"You have a beautiful living space there. I spent a few days there when it was just built and furnished, and got to look around the cottages too. Beautiful spaces and a great group of people around you."

Maureen nodded smiling, "And a beautiful mural, made by you, I suspect."

Elly shot in laughter: "That's absolutely right. I don't make murals now, but little paintings. Sorry, I have to move on to the next client, I'm sure we'll speak again. Have a nice day, ladies!"

Cheerful about their successful outing, they walked back home, waving briefly to Lisa so she knew they were back safely. Later, they would tell her about their first outing!

To chapter 30. Ineke's journey of discovery in the garden

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