Ada's children

Ada Osterbeek had been growing tulips longer than most people in Eindhoven had been alive. She referred to the tulips bed in front of her cottage as her children. She had never married, nor, as far as anyone knew, had she ever taken a lover. All the children she had were in that flower bed.

The Osterbeeks were one of the wealthiest families in Eindhoven. They had been making surgical instruments for nearly two centuries. Even during the terrible years of the Nazi occupation the factory had operated at full capacity. With half the world earnestly seeking to kill the other half the demand for surgical instruments was higher than ever. The Germans assumed they were getting the entire output of the factory, but of course the Resistance got its share.

Ada had contributed to the family fortune. The nursery she had founded was the third largest in the Netherlands and had developed several new varieties of tulips, not least of which was the blood red variety developed by Ada herself inher home bed. It was known worlwide as Ada's Grandchild. Ada was also known for her trowel,which had been custom made for her. Even when she was not tending her tulips it was sure to bein her sweater pocket and when she slept it was on her night stand. This had led to yet another profitable Osterbeek line. High quality Osterbeek stainless steel gardening tools could be found in almost every nursery in Europe.

Ada's interest in her children bordered almost on obsession. For at least two hours each day she would individually water each flower, pick out debris, weeds, and insects, and if nothing else just run her fingers through the soil. Even in bad weather when the tulips were out of season she would be out checking that the bulbs were protected and picking fallen leaves out of the bed.

That eventually led to disaster. The previous January she had been out checking her chikdren in a sleet storm when she slipped and fell on an ice rimed flagstone. No one knew how log she had lain there before a passerby had noticed her and summoned an ambulance. In the hospital she had been fretful andrefused to calm down until her nephew Martin had promised to have someone look after her children. Even then she had insisted on keeping her trowel with her even when she went into surgery.

Almost inevitably her condition had been made worse when she contracted pneumonia. A lesser woman might not have survived, but Ada was a tough old bird. She was as tenacious about fighting off Pneumonia as she was about rooting weeds out of her tulip bed. Nevertheless it was spring before she was allowed to return to her cottage. Thus it was that on a bright morning in late March Martin Osterbeek found himself literally blocking the front door of his aunts cottage wjth his body.

"Aunt Ada you can't! You're not well enough yet. And even when you are you won't be able to get downto tend the tulips like you used to."

"Nonsense! I've been tending my children since I was fourteen. The Germans couldn't stop me and neither will you."

Martin reached out to grab the trowel she was wildly waving around. The result surprised him. His hand was twisted in a way that wrenched his fingers violently. The next thing he knew the trowel was pressed against his neck. He tried to pull back, but he was alredy pressed against the door. he could feel the blood pulsing in his vein past the trowel. When he looked past the trowel he saw not the twinling blue eyes of his kindly old aunt but two chips of ice seen through tiny slits.

"No one takes away my trowel. Not ever"

"Okay, okay. But it doesn't change the fact thatyou can't tend your tulips anyymore. That's why we got Mariska to do it for you."

Ada lowered the trowel and stood thoughtfully for a moment. "Mariska VanRhryswik. Yes, she is a sensible girl and just the right age. Perhaps it is time. Very well, she may assist me."

Mariska VanRhyswik was a fourteen year old girl who lived nearby. She had been chosen to tend Ada's children while she was in the hospital. She was interested in gardeningand often visited her mother at work in the nursury. She was not only sensible , but good natured. She did not mind visiting Ada in the hospital each day to be grilledabout the state of the tulip bed. Now she kneltby the tulip bed while Ada sat nearby. Martin had gotten his aunt a sort of walker with a seat on the front so she could rest when she had to.

Mariska was loosening and aeratinfg the soil with a sort of garden claw. One ofd the tines encountered an obstruction. She dug down and found a piece of rotted cloth. It would not come loose.

"MIss Osterbeek there is something in here."

"I told you my name is Ada." She leaned forward to look at what Mariska had found. "Oh, that, yes." She drew a deep breathand let it out slowly. She slid her hand into her sweater pocket as if to assure herself that her trowel was still there. "That is the Colonel. I'm sure you have heard stories of the occupation. I assure you it was every bit as bad as you heard. Probably worse; there are things we don't talk about. Our family was lucky. The Germans wanted our merchandise and considered my father a collaborator. He wasn't. Providing surgical instruments is not giving aid and comfort to the enemy. It is just simple humanity. Sabotage or even poor workmanship would be as evil as anything the Nazis did."

Even our priveliged status did not protect me from the Colonel. The first time I told myself that it was an isolated incident; just another indignity of occupation. It could not be helped. But when he came back I knew I would have to do something." She drew her trowel from her pocket. I had Jan TenHaver make me this. He was my father's chief machinist and a genius with metal. It was exactly what I wanted. not just to deal with the Colonel; it was te perfect gardening tool.

It had to be this. If the Colonel had seen me with a gun or a knife he would be on his guard. But when he saw this he only saw a garden tool. I buried him here and planted tulips. No one thought to question me about that and since the Colonel had been careful to keep his actions secret no one connected his disappearance to me.

Even with our privileged status we were not overfed We did receive extra rations but my parents insisted on sharing them with the needy. As a result I was rather scrawny." Ada pointed with her trowel. "I buried the twins over there. They were so small I couldn't tell if they were boys or girls.

Ever since then I've tended my children and kept the Colonel hidden. I could have admitted what happened when the occupation ended, but it seemed to me that there was little to be gained by that. The past was gone and best forgotten. I have openly of tending my children and openly carried my trowel about with me at all times, and people persist in thinking of me as only an eccentric old lady.

Well, I am an old lady. I'm eighty years old now. For sixty-six years I've tended my children Now my hip is so damaged I can't get down to them anymore." Ada chuckled. "Father time is the only one I cant fool. Now it's time to pass on my responsibility to someone else; to you. You are yet young and strong. you have a level read and a love of plants." She held her trowel out toward Mariska. "Take good care of my children."