There are no telephones between the monastery and Paro, so there is no way to let anyone at home know what happened to Victor. It is decided to bring the boy's body straight home, not stopping anywhere. A long and gloomy ride.
As they approach the house, the girls and then the ladies come out into the yard. They're surprised to see the men back so soon.
Maartje, "Bert, you're back early. We thought it would be several days yet… What's the matter? You look dreadful!… Where's Victor?"
Siem, "Marie, something terrible happened…"
Marie, "What? Where is he? What happened?"
"He fell. He fell off a cliff. And he's… dead."
"Dead? No! NO! Where is he?"
"Right here, in this blanket."
"Oh God! How can this be! Let me see." and she pulls back the blanket.
She stares in shocked silence, then starts to cry. All the others go towards the house, to let the parents be alone.
Bertus, "Maartje, this is the priest who was shot when the soldiers took the monastery. As you can see, he survived. Brother Andre, this is my wife Maartje, and these are my daughters Ietje, Truus, Janthe, and Mel. The lady with Siem is his wife, Marie."
Maartje, "How are you. Won't you all come in? Tell me how it happened." They go inside, Bertus explaining.
"Jack and Victor separated from the rest of us, so Jack could show Victor some of his favorite spots in the woods around the monastery. Jack, would you tell everyone what took place after you and Victor left us?"
"Well, we really wanted to know what was going on at the monastery, and we figured we'd be able to see down over top of the place from the cliff to the one side. So we went up there. Victor was getting dizzy once in a while, I guess from the height. I never thought of that when he said we could climb a tree to see better. We picked out a tree and climbed up. When we were high up there he slid out onto a limb. I said not to, but he did anyway. And then he suddenly got dizzy and fell.
The tree was leaning out over the cliff, so he fell a long ways down. It was hard to find him. When I did he was all bloody, and his leg was twisted. I could feel it was broken when I straightened it out. He was still breathing then, but when I got the others and we found him again he wasn't breathing, and we couldn't find a heart beat."
Maartje, "Those poor people, to lose their son just like that. And while they're on a holiday! This is going to change everything. We'll have to cancel the plans for the rest of their time here. And we'll have to make all kinds of arrangements."
