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.