Johan, Joke and Rosalie met the other guests on the veranda. Marieke was still stretched out on her back on the lounger, but took part in the conversations. Johan was glad she could still give her body some rest in this pleasant way.

As soon as she saw them approaching, she wanted to get up, but Johan gestured that she could stay down.

"Books!" she shouted cheerfully, lying back down obediently.

Rosalie was in conflict with herself. On the one hand, she really wanted to visit Gloria, on the other, she was so curious about the reactions to her books.

"Oh Johan, I want to see them!" cried Marieke.

Rosalie chuckled and consulted Johan. "Shall I give her 'Squirry?"

"Go ahead," said Johan. He gave her her first book and followed her towards Marieke.

"Shall I raise the backrest slightly?" he asked.

"Yes, please dear, if I stay completely flat my arms get tired of the book. Thank you, Rosalie! Did Johan pay you nicely?"

"No, not to me, but to Bert, because Bert takes care of the money. He sends the profits to my account," she explained.

"Handy man, that Bert. Is that Jan's father?"

Rosalie nodded, looking from Marieke to the book and back again.

"You, I think, are curious if I like your book," Marieke guessed.

Rosalie nodded again, more eagerly this time.

"Anyway, I really like the front and back covers. A picture of a real squirrel. Is that a squirrel from here?"

"Yes, I took that picture myself. I sat very still, the squirrel kept looking at me, sometimes with such a tilted head," she recalled.

"Super cute..." sighed Marieke. She turned the first page, the second and started reading the story softly.

"Louder, Marieke, we don't hear a thing!" cried Marianne.

"Oh, are we going to have a reading circle? Cosy! OK, I'll start over, but I'll show you the covers first. Pictures Rosalie took herself, nice huh?"

Then she flipped open the first page again and started reading aloud. It was dead silent around her. After just a few sentences, everyone was completely engrossed in the story of the sweet, clever, brave squirrel, who was looking for nuts for her winter stock. In her quick jumps from tree to tree, she discovered another squirrel. She stared at the other squirrel in surprise and asked what her name was. One was called Squirry, the other Kee. They were both female and they became the best of friends, actually more than girlfriends, they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

It moved Joke, how Rosalie brought up such profound things as soul connection through two squirrels, soul connection between two female squirrels. Joke thought further, about the friendship between Rosalie and Gloria. That wasn't just a friendship either. She had thought about it, about the stories she had heard. How Rosalie, while Margreet had only just known she was pregnant and didn't know the girl at all, had approached her, and had said such words about her baby, that she was beautiful, and that she thought she was so sweet. Something like that, Joke didn't remember exactly. And she had heard about the day of Gloria's birth, which Rosalie had attended. And how the family had found them together next to Margreet on the big bed and had been almost shocked by the way Rosalie and Gloria looked at each other, obviously really saw each other, as if they could see inside each other.

Joke wondered, if Rosalie realised that she and Gloria probably had the same connection as both those squirrels in her story....

After two chapters, Marieke became too tired to continue reading. "Tonight in bed or else tomorrow, I will continue reading. Reading aloud takes too much effort for me, I notice. But what I have read now, Rosalie, that is a great story. You write as they think, as they feel. I felt like I was 'Squirry' myself... and that's a good sign!"

"That's great, I'm glad of that! I'm going to Gloria now, otherwise she'll have to wait far too long!"

She ran off, while the others watched her in silence.

"I was wondering just now..." began Johan, "Rosalie had joined us after lunch. Was the discovery centre closing this afternoon?"

"I asked Patrick the same thing," Anton told him, "according to him, Rosalie works a lot of overtime, and it was very special that she just left after lunch now. She was so engrossed in everything and everyone that she hadn't even written down what time she left. They do that by default, but she didn't think of it. Patrick did it for her and showed us how many hours she had spent at the centre last week. Those were far more hours than she would be required to as a five-year-old according to our education system. And according to Patrick, she has been working bang on. She is totally into book writing, doesn't want anything else at the moment. As a father, he does find this a bit tricky, which I understand. He does not want to overask her, but at the same time he realised that he is not asking her for anything at all, that she is doing this on her own accord. She just has that urge. And on the other hand, she also runs to Gloria daily, sits there playing or hanging out together a bit in the cushions. Those two... it's something!"

Marieke nodded thoughtfully, "Do you know what a silly impression I just got? That she wrote about herself in this first book, probably unconsciously. That she herself is Squirry, and Gloria Kee. They are connected in such a deep way. It's not just from Rosalie's point of view, the way Gloria reacts is just the same."

Joke smiled and nodded, "I was just thinking the same thing while you were reading out. I wouldn't be surprised if that becomes a deep friendship for life!"

She stood up: "I loved her book, as far as you've read now. A work of art! And I was reminded of the digital gallery. I'm going to our room now, just to email my latest book to Annelies, I promised her. But if you agree with me, that Rosalie should get a page on the gallery's website, discuss it with each other and with Huib or something. I'll come down again when my book has been sent. So long, dear people!"

As busy and cheerful as these lovely people usually were with each other, they now felt calm and fulfilled. Each and every one of them had enjoyed the section read aloud, had been totally immersed in the story. And Joke's suggestion did not strike them as strange at all for that reason.

"What do you think," Johan asked, "shall I walk over to Huib to consult with him?"

He got agreement from everyone and walked to Huib's work shed with the four books. He knocked on the door, to which Huib turned and greeted him happily.

"Ah, I see you have already picked up the books! I already heard great stories from Anton about Jan, and about his parents' printing business."

Huib patted his hands on his work trousers and took the first book from Johan. He didn't even realise Johan wasn't saying anything, he was immediately fascinated by the pictures on the front and back covers of the books. He flipped open the book of 'Squirry' and started reading. Johan leaned against the doorframe, watched Huib's eyes fly over the lines and he was completely absorbed in the story. Only when he finished the first chapter, did Johan cough.

"Oh sorry, I was totally into it!" Huib apologised.

"I saw that, and I'm not surprised. Marieke had just read a big part to all the guests, cosy on the veranda. Dead silence, even when she stopped. Then Joke came in saying that she thought a page should be made available for Rosalie on the digital website, because it's art. What do you think?"

"What I think? I can sell myself a slap in the face for not having thought of that before. She has written so many short stories before this, so incredibly well. I never thought for a moment that our gallery could also be a place for her. Books... why shouldn't books be art? Word art, great word art! Here you go, and thanks for your thoughts. I'm going to send a message to Bert and Annelies right away, no, I'll call them, to ask if I can come and pick them up now. What did you pay for four?"

"Thirty euros," Johan replied.

"Only thirty? Far too little, this is worth much more! Well, of course, they are thin books, maybe that also has something to do with it. I'll call them, go and get them if I can, meanwhile send a message to Ilse, who runs the site, and send her photos of the books later. And I'm going to discuss with Bert and Annelies whether it can't be just a bit more expensive, a tenner per book or so... Johan, sorry, I'm telling you my whole step-by-step plan, really immensely interesting of course... hahaha, just go back, I'm going to arrange it, right now!"

Johan laughed, patting him on the shoulder amicably. "Great that you're so enthusiastic. Good luck negotiating!"

.

Huib walked over to Margreet, consulted with her briefly and after her happy response, he called Bert. He could come right away, the advantage of working at home!

He told Bert about reading out loud by Johan's wife, that everyone agreed to give Rosalie a page on their digital gallery because her book writing was pure word art, and that he wondered, why the books cost only 7.50 euros each.

"I agree with you in advance, that in terms of content they are worth gold, but in the first place, you can't start with high prices. She has to get a circle of readers first. And secondly, they are thin books. I talked to her parents about it, calculated for them that about half of the proceeds are for Rosalie, and they thought that was more than enough for now. With every sale I make an invoice on the PC, which the customer also gets. And at the end of the month, the programme adds up how much has been sold, and what the profit is for the writer. And I then transfer that amount to her. If she starts selling more thanks to your website, we can possibly consult with her parents to raise the price slightly, but I would be surprised if they agree to that..."

"Why not? Because she's a child?"

Bert nodded: "That does have to do with it, that's right, Bea did mention that..."

Huib tended to respond to that, but saw that something was getting through to Bert, and waited to see what he thought.

"Actually..." began Bert, "actually, that is quite contrary to their vision for the discovery centre. Everyone is equal, age doesn't matter, right? Hold on Huib, I'll give them a call."

Where Huib stood by, Bert shared his discovery with Bea, his doubts about the illogical thinking. He suggested raising the price to ten euros anyway, because this writer's art simply deserved it. A moment later, he raised his thumb, to which Huib grinned.

"Fine, I'm going to change it. There have already been a few customers who paid the old price, of course I can't reverse that, but from now on I'll make it ten euros. I'm going to change it in the PC right away. They will soon go over the counter like sweet rolls at ten euros each!"

He closed the conversation and put his mobile by the computer. "Change it later. I'm glad you came by for this, Huib, thanks!"

"You're welcome, but you can change the price right now, because I want to buy all four for a fair price. Is that possible or is that too much work?"

"Well no, that's fine, just a moment..."

Bert sat down at the computer and took out Rosalie's file. For each book, he changed the price to ten euros and saved the data.

"So, ready to go. All four books? I'll just make an invoice, then I can immediately see if the system works properly!"

He ticked the four titles, and ordered an invoice to be made. The invoice appeared on the screen, and it showed that the prices had indeed changed.

"That's new to me too, but it works! Just making a printout..."

Moments later, he handed over the four books and the invoice, while Huib transferred the money using his bank app.

"Super, I'm going to arrange to put them on the website!"

.

Huib called Ilse on the way, told her, she could create a new page for a book writer.

"Do you agree with that too, that book writing is art?"

"Absolutely, word art! Have you read anything by that writer yet?"

"Yes, one chapter and I was sold! It was handed to me by Johan, you know, the judge. Johan and Marieke, and a few more acquaintances are staying here this week. Marieke had read an end from the first book aloud, and then one of them had come up with the certainty that it belonged on the site."

"Should I do another group email?" asked Ilse.

"Well, we did do that all the time, but honestly... wait, shall I read you a little bit?"

He didn't even wait for an answer, but started reading aloud while quietly walking on. After the first chapter, he stopped.

"And? What did you think of it?" he asked Ilse.

"To become silent! If you can write like that... What's that writer's name?"

"Rosalie van Gelder, you know her, Gloria's heart friend," Huib replied with inner laughter.

"What??? You can't be serious! That sweet toddler? Does she write so amazingly well?! Ah yes, actually I shouldn't be surprised, that child lives completely from her soul. I've never met anyone so incredibly pure in that. Tell you what Huib, send me the photos, the summary and the price and I'll arrange it as soon as I have it. Super cool man, I'm thrilled about this, this feels like a breakthrough in taking children seriously. Hahaha you should see Ineke here, she's really looking at me with such a face full of question marks. I'm not going to tell her yet, she hasn't heard the rest of our conversation. Only when I have everything ready will I show it to her first, and then I will send that group email as notification."

"Then will you also put it on the gallery's accounts on social media?" asked Huib, just to be sure.

"Definitely, that's the regular route I always go through. Photo and text on the site and then straight to the socials. All right, I look forward to seeing your photos and text! Thanks Huib!"

"You're welcome, I'm happy with it!"

To chapter 71. Reading!

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