BARGEMASTER
a novel containing historical data

    Son Jaap was about Peter’s age; and, soon after his arrival, he gained the latter’s admiration for bravery. Jaap confronted boys, much older than he, without any fear. He did not purposely try to annoy the older Boerhaavestraat kids; but, when he got pushed around unfairly, he stood up for his rights. He missed getting a beating because other older boys had also recognized a measure of dishonorable conduct on the part of the teen-aged aggressor.
    Jaap had caught on to the fact that Peter sometimes distributed the resistance newspaper and he offered to help with the delivery. Peter accepted, without first getting permission from the Vlasveld boys. The lad thought about that omission the moment that events started to go less smoothly. Because they were carrying on a conversation, Peter was not quite as focused as he would have been alone. He failed to pay proper attention to a person who, in the evening darkness, was too far away to be recognized, but near enough to observe the boys’ movements. Consequently, he ignored the advice that had been repeated to him numerous times: “If you see anybody at all, don’t try to make a delivery.” He became aware of his error the instant he pulled a newspaper from the sack. Fortunately, he was still on the public road; he had not as yet started to approach a house. So, when the dark silhouette began to move toward the boys, Peter said: “let’s run; I think it’s a German soldier.”
    The man started to give chase. After a few hundred meters along the Herenstraat, the boys swung into the Boerhaavestraat and made a left turn into the alley that led to the back of Cees’ house. Jaap, who was a few meters behind, noticed that the soldier had seen them turning. “Give me one of your newspapers and keep on running,” he said.
Peter instinctively realized that whatever Jaap had in mind would be their best course of action; so, he gave him the single copy and ran.
    The young Katwijker stepped behind the partition that gave privacy to the back entrance of neighbor Voorn’s residence. That was just before the German entered the alley. When the soldier had gone about ten paces past his hiding place, Jaap stepped into the alley and shouted: “Hier,” while he waved his newspaper.
    The German turned around and started chasing the young Katwijker, who had noticed that his pursuer had a considerable beer belly. Therefore, Jaap decided that, since he did not want the soldier to give up prematurely, he would remain just a few meters ahead of him. Thus, he led the man “around the block” a few times to make him forget the first alley. When he felt that he had sufficiently confused the soldier, he doubled his speed; and, perceiving that his pursuer had discontinued the chase, Jaap turned the corner and calmly went to retrieve the paper that he had temporarily slipped behind a hedge.